My Life with a Norse Warrior God
by Chloes-Cheese
Summary: Takes place post-movie, after Fandral stays behind to protect Earth, Darcy helps him adjust to life on Midgard. Awkwardness, angst, adorableness, drama and hilarity ensue. T for language. Mostly Darcy POV. Sequel to Well Aren't You The Freakiest Thing?
1. The Woes of an Empty Kitchen

**Disclaimer: This is the story of a silly girl who wrote about people who don't exist, that she didn't make up, that she didn't portray, that she doesn't own and she didn't direct, but it's a good story all the same.**

**Author's Note: That's right, people, your eyes do not deceive you, I am back with more Farcy/Fandarcy/Fancy goodness.**

**I have missed you guys but I really did need the break.**

**Much love to all of my readers of the last story, and in case you are just jumping on board now, I suggest you go back and read Well Aren't You the Freakiest Thing? It'll make this one make more sense. Just a suggestion.**

**Well this is my first stab at a sequel, hope you guys like it. Here we go! Let's get the party started.**

_Chapter 1: In which Darcy is hungry and Erik has big pants._

When we arrived back in town, most of the residents had returned and were being interviewed by cops and special agents no doubt working for S.H.I.E.L.D. A cop tried to pull us over for questions which made me audibly groan but luckily a suited agent arrived in less than 30 seconds and informed the cop that he was mistaken and that they were already interviewed. So that was one advantage of doing government research, cops didn't bug you. Yay.

By the time we made it back to the converted auto shop, I was very tired and very hungry. When Erik parked the van, Jane got out of the passenger seat without a word and proceeded to walk as silent as she had been the entire drive back to Puente Antigua, and retreated to her trailer without so much as a glance or motion of good bye in our direction. As much as I felt like comforting her as she ate ice cream and cried, I had begun to gain a mild understanding of the astrophysicist and instead decided to give her her space. And I didn't blame her for wanting to be alone for in that brief moment when I thought Fandral was leaving I felt just a touch of the misery that was engulfing her now and it was intense and not the sort of thing you wanted an audience for.

Thinking of my knight in literal shining armor, I turned and looked at him, through my tired eyes and realized for the first time since he decided to stay how inappropriate his attire was for casual encounters and stuff like going to bed. Looking him up and down in a perplexed manner, I asked rather awkwardly, "I don't suppose you have any sleepwear in that handy-dandy survival pack of yours, do ya?"

Fandral looked down at his clothes of leather and metal and then in the direction of his first aid kit as he opened and closed his mouth , clearly just realizing the logistical issue of him staying on Earth before admitting, "Um, no. I'm afraid not."

"Didn't think so," My mind already running through every solution that was feasible for this time of night, before I landed on one holding up a finger to him, saying quickly, "Hang on."

I then proceeded to turn on the spot and rushed off to catch up to Erik who was halfway to his car that was parked by Jane's trailer and clearly downtrodden by his daughter-figure's heartbreak.

"Erik, hey!" I said by way of greeting as I stepped in front of him when he showed no inclination of stopping.

"What is it Darcy?" Erik asked tiredly as he was forced to stop. I knew he wasn't really as annoyed at me as he seemed or trying to be intentionally curt because I knew it had been a long and exhausting day and he clearly didn't have anymore patience left.

"Yeah, um sorry," I apologized as I realized this, "I was wondering if you happened to have any clothes Fandral back there could borrow until I can take him shopping tomorrow 'cause I don't think he's wearing anything right now that's not leather or metal-plated."

I realized absently that I was entering into my incoherent, long-winded phase of nervousness because the idea of having Fandral stay over, despite the circumstances, was making me a little jumpy. The scientist looked back at the visiting Asgardian, picking up on the fact that my rambling actually had a valid point for once and replied, "Oh, yeah, I might have something he could borrow for the night. I'll go see what I can dig up."

"You do that." I agreed as I stepped out of his way so he could resume his journey to the car, and I rejoined Falrand, saying, "Don't worry, I'm sure the doctor there will have something that'll fit."

Fandral made a small nod of acknowledgement while he tracked Dr. Selvig's movements as the older man rummaged through the large suitcase in the trunk of his car. After about a moment Erik returned to us with a pair of plain black sweatpants and a large grey long-sleeved pullover sweatshirt, holding them out to Fandral with a bit of an awkward face as he said, "Here, they're probably a bit big but they should do until we get you some clothes of your own."

"Thank you for your generosity," Westley thanked him in his overly courteous manner, "I shall repay you once I am able."

"Nah, you don't have to," Erik insisted, "They probably won't be the best fit anyway. Consider is a bit of a 'welcome to Earth' gift."

"Well still, I thank you." Fandral said in a rather dashing contrast to Thor's dismissive acceptance of his hand me down clothes from a day or so ago. While Thor at the time had acted as though it was expected that he receive top-notch treatment, Fandral was rather humble about it, which I found incredibly charming.

We bid goodnight to Erik as he headed back into town to stay at the one motel we had in Puente Antigua and I began steering Fandral in the direction of the auto shop.

"And what sort of accommodation is there for me tonight, my lady?" He asked, so clearly out of his depth with no clue what sort of rules and expectations existed in this primitive world of mine.

I repressed the urge to giggle at him as I waved my hand to indicate the building Jane used as her temporary lab, "You're looking at it. There's a bit of an apartment upstairs that I use with a fold out couch with your name on it."

While it was obvious that the pretty boy beside me didn't quite understand all of what I was saying, he took it in stride and chose not to ask a billion questions which I was surprised at but glad for. When we had entered the lab/kitchen bottom floor of the former Smith's Motors my stomach was rumbling from the abuse of not eating anything but power bars and beef jerky for 6 or 7 hours. Though it was only about 8 or 8:30 I was exhausted. Between the running in terror, the injury, the emotional backlash of seeing Thor both killed and come back to life and thinking that the guy I liked was leaving me for good I was drained.

"Before we do anything else, though, I need to eat something." I announced heading towards the fridge hoping there was more in there than I thought there was, then cast a look back at him, "You hungry?"

"A bit yes," he replied almost guiltily as though he thought that there was some shame in it after eating barely anything all day.

"It's alright to be hungry." I chided him as I threw open the refrigerator door. Unfortunately everything inside was either Jane's, half-eaten or more meal-like than I was looking for, I needed something quick so I then moved onto the pantry.

After searching through every cabinet we kept food in and finding nothing that sounded appetizing, I shut the last door with frustration before apologizing, "I'm sorry I was supposed to do the shopping…last week."

Okay so I might have been distracted the past week and this new predicament was my fault but honestly all I wanted right then was to eat something tasty and then collapse into bed. Fortunately, I was with the Norse God of understanding it seemed because all he said was, "It's all right, I'm sure whatever you have is fine, food is food."

I really could have kissed him right then but instead went over and opened the freezer, not excited about the thaw time most of what we kept in there would take but desperate for something when the Lord smiled at me at last in the form of a box of pepperoni pizza hot pockets.

"I promise, I'll replace these Jane," I muttered to myself in the hopes I would remember later. Yes, this ticked Jane off normally but this was an emergency and I would be going to the store tomorrow anyway.

I went about the kitchen getting plates and sticking the blessed hot pockets in the microwave, exchanging awkward small talk with Fandral as I did so. When our informal dinner was done we both ate quickly after they had cooled off in mostly silence. When we were done eating I directed Fandral to the main bathroom off the kitchen and told him to meet me upstairs when he was done. I then scampered very quickly to clean things up before he joined me in the converted apartment. The old owner of the repair shop used to live up here as well as have his office. When Jane and I first came out here for research I told Jane she could have it and I'd get a futon or something but she had kept her old camper instead, needing some stability as we moved from place to place so I had gotten the small upstairs living area. It had a bedroom, a bathroom and what had used to be the office but I used as a living room. I shared the kitchen downstairs with Jane.

When all of my random crap that had been strewn about the living room had been safely stuffed into the closet in my room, I then attacked my chest of drawers praying that I had actually washed my cute moons and stars pajamas instead of just thinking about it.

"Huzzah!" I said to myself in victory pulling them out to find them clean before dashing to the bathroom to change just in case when Fandral came upstairs he wandered into my room without knocking and I did not need to mar our strange living arrangement with any spurts of accidental nudity.

As I changed into my pajamas I became aware of how dirty my clothes had become from the blood and dirt of being thrown to the sheer amount of dirt and sand that had caked itself on from standing the desert for hours. I also noticed that the wrist I had probably broken only twinged slightly when I moved which I was just so happy about. Running around with a useless hand for two months absolutely sucked, especially if there was a cute boy around that I didn't want to look like a useless fool in front of. Once in my night clothes I returned to the living room to see Westley tugging at the string on the sweatpants in a hilariously frustrated manner. Okay, so Erik is not fat or that much bigger than Fandral and they were around the same height but Erik had like an inch or two on him and was a little bit rounder and liked roomy casual clothes so the sweatpants were very baggy and long on Fandral and the sweater looked a little akin to elephant skin.

Though it was probably very mean, I couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculous sight. Fandral looked up at the sound of my ridiculous laughter with a look of slight distress, "Are all Midgard clothing this large upon being worn?"

Still giggling as I made my way over to him as he continued to tug at the unflattering material, I said, "Um no. I think that those are some of Erik's larger clothes, probably before he lost some weight. They have smaller clothes in the stores that I'm sure will fit you better."

"I hope so." Fandral muttered as he pulled up the loose trousers.

"Here," I offered, trying to help him as I indicated the string of the sweatpants, "Try pulling that really tight."

"I already tried that and it returned to this state within a moment." He responded completely out of his element.

"Try tying it after you pull it, that way it won't come loose again." I suggested, more amused then I should be at his state of bewilderment.

He did as I suggested and then looked at me with a look of surprise and satisfaction, "It worked."

"Great." I replied, tickled to pieces at how pleased he was to not have his pants falling down anymore, "Now about the shirt…"

I looked at it for a minute and tried to help him roll up the too-large sleeves but after they kept coming right back down I threw my hands in the air, "The sweatshirt, however is hopeless."

He held up his arms and looked at the sleeves and rest of the large sweatshirt with a mildly unhappy glare, then without any warning whatsoever removed the shirt and threw it onto the couch making my heart go into overtime and my ovaries explode. I mean, sure Thor looked great and I could tell Fandral had a body before to be able pull off that battle get up but still, there is a large difference between imagining a guy with his shirt off and actually seeing him shirtless.

I must have had some sort of idiotic look of transfixion on my face because then Fandral said in a concerned way, "I'm sorry, am I making you uncomfortable? Would you prefer me to put the shirt back on? Because I could sleep just as well with or without it."

I wanted to tell him to never put any sort of shirt on again but I managed to recover well enough, "Oh no, no. It's fine. I was just caught off guard is all. Whatever makes you comfortable is fine with me."

"Good." Fandral replied with a smile, hopefully none the wiser to the fact that I was basically ogling him as he turned away to refold the sweater.

Damn he had a great body. Bless Erik and his penchant for overly large casual clothes. I made a mental note to buy some sort of little gift for the scientist who had made it possible for me to have this lovely little moment with a shirtless Norse Warrior God.

From there I showed him how to unfold the bed in the couch that the previous owner had been kind enough to leave there, only bumbling and forgetting my train of thought twice. Once I caught Robin Hood with a slight grin after I had recovered myself but he didn't say anything about it, which I was grateful for. When we had finished dressing the bed and I told him to help himself to anything in the kitchen if he got hungry, I reluctantly realized that it was probably time to say goodnight.

"Well, if you need anything, I am in the next room, and while I may try to punch you if you try to wake me up, I promise its fine." I explained, as I was internally kicking myself for going on about my embarrassing sleeping habit. "And if you wake up before me and the numbers right there," I said pointing the to clock on top of the TV in the entertainment center, "say 10 or anything past that, please feel free to come in and throw a pillow at me, I don't need to sleep that late."

I subtly became aware that the longer I talked, the closer Fandral edged towards me, a determined look in his eye. When he was about a foot away from me and I hear myself about to start rambling about how loud beeping sounds from my room was normal when Fandral held up a hand and said quietly but insistently, "Lady Darcy, might I say something?"

"Of course," I said automatically, entranced by his blue eyes and the way he looked at me.

"I just wanted to thank you for taking me in, I know I couldn't have been exactly what you planned when you woke up this morning, and I know that I don't understand many things about your world but still, it means a great deal to me." Mr. Dashing said in an endearing and considerate way that made my heart beat about like crazy, "You don't have to say anything else. Rest well tonight and you can explain more to me in the morning, I know you are tired."

_He really was perfect_, I thought to myself as I listened to his perfect gentlemanly words. Then before I could say anything else, he took my right hand and brought it up to his lips and kissed it again, more sweet and meaningful than the one he had given to me after we first met but more tame than the lip lock we shared by the portal.

"Good night, my lady." He said softly as he let go of my hand.

"Good night," I barely remembered to say as I walked, like in a dream back to my room and shut the door behind me with a small smile playing around my mouth.

I knew that a lot of girls would be disappointed at such docile display of affection after the type of kiss we had shared that afternoon, but I wasn't. It fit with who I was learning Fandral was. The make out session was in response to an impending departure, which wouldn't have a place in a common everyday routine like saying goodnight.

I fell into bed, grinning like an idiot while the hand he kissed tingled and suppressed the urge to full out laugh like a lunatic with glee, well aware that these walls weren't entirely soundproof.

It would take awhile to fully get to know the man from another world that was sleeping on my couch but I was going to make the most of every minute of it.

**Author's Note: And there we have it! the very first chapter of my very first sequel. It ended up being a little longer than I expected, but you guys probably won't be complaining about that.**

**Yeah, this chapter made me giggle while writing it. hee hee. Yeah.**

**Okay then, I hope to be back sometime this week. I probably won't be back everyday like on the last story but I do hope to be back soon if you guys still want the story. We shall just have to see.**

**Okay, now review if you want more.**

**You are my love, my angle, don't treat me like a potato. - ten points if you know where that's from.**

**Hee hee.**

**Leave me feedback if you still want the sequel.**

**Remember feedback=reviews, favorites, PMs, alerts=more story very quickly.**

**Ta Ta and fond wishes,**

**Fin**


	2. I Must Not Antagonize a SHIELD Agent

**Disclaimer: Nobody in this is mine. None of these places are mine. I just own the plot.**

**Author's Note: And so the story continues! And it is all because of you guys and my unhealthy amount of FanDarcy love.**

**Seriously, you guys are all beautiful beautiful people and make me feel so honored with your sweet sweet words of encouragement. I couldn't write this much without you guys.**

**So shout out to: Shyma Tavrott Lupin, beesting08, b, Telulu Hunter, Sheherazade's Fable, JediPrincess-Knight, Andy Lauren, Aoibhinn, thunder sister, RachelGoesRawr, rebel-bred, fiducia, Sukkiru, and Thera-Rocklynn, you are all wonderful and if I didn't reply to, I am sorry, I am just terribly busy but I love and appreciate you all very much!**

**Okay, enough of me, onward!**

_Chapter 2: In which Darcy is paranoid and Coulson makes good on his word._

When I woke up I could almost believe I made yesterday up. I peeked into the living room to see the couch-bed folded back up and no sign of the Norse Warrior God whom I had left there. Almost resigned that my dream had been far too vivid once again, I changed out of my pajamas and headed downstairs, chagrined by the idea that my overactive imagination had run away with me once again during the night. But as I neared the bottom of the staircase I heard laughter that was neither Jane's breathy girlish peal nor Erik's deep chuckle. Picking up my speed I darted down the remaining steps and pushed open the cracked door at the bottom the rest of the way to see Fandral standing by the stove watching with fascination as Jane flipped eggs in the skillet.

I must have stood there in the doorway grinning like an idiot for at least a minute, filled with delight that for once I hadn't dreamed up something as fantastic as a hot guy rooming with me. Before I could stare for too long though, Erik, who was sitting at our small table reading the paper, looked up and saw me, giving me just enough time to wipe that stupid look of surprised glee before he announced my presence, "Ah, there you are! Glad you could join us. Jane was just teaching Fandral, here, how to make eggs."

"You've never seen eggs cooked before?" I asked incredulously as I officially entered the room and went to lean against the counter beside him.

"Good morning, Lady Darcy." He greeted formally first before answering my question with a grin on his face, "And no, I never spent much time in the kitchens of Asgard, feasts were always laid out in advance by cooks and willing servants. I haven't been in any of the kitchens since I was a small boy and that was a very long time ago."

When he spoke he seemed to be a very long way away and I realized for the first time since I met him, that he must be a lot older than he looked. He was a long time buddy of Thor about whom there were stories from over a thousand years ago. It was far too early in the morning to figure out that my maybe sorta kinda significant other was, in fact, hundreds of years older than me. Fortunately, I did not have long to sputter about this realization before Jane said, turning off the stove and picking up the skillet, "Okay, the eggs are done. Fandral could you get the bread from the toaster?"

Instead of focusing on this new overwhelming truth I watched with mild amusement as Fandral paused for a moment turning back towards the counter as he seemed to be trying to recall what the toaster was. I pointed at the appliance as I walked past him to get the orange juice from the fridge. He followed my gaze with a jolt of recognition and grabbed the four slices and put them on the plate waiting for them before heading to the table. Erik had put away his newspaper and was helping clear space on the small table for the incoming breakfast items. I got the spot next to Fandral and Jane and across from Erik with the clear view out the large wall windows of the main street of town. Construction workers hired by the government were busy at work repairing the damage the Destroyer, that they were claiming was a failed new weapons test, had caused. Agents from S.H.E.I.L.D. still milled about trying to appease the residents of Puente Anitguo whose property had been damaged and were still very shaken up from the scene yesterday. I had to say I was impressed by the speed at which our town was being repaired (even if I didn't approve of people trying to cover things up) seeing as the diner was already almost completely repaired and the 711 was well on the way.

"So what are everyone's plans for the day?" Erik asked as we began dishing up.

"I was planning on taking Fandral shopping. The dude needs some human clothes." I said, waving my buttery knife in his direction indicating the stiff, dark, bluish, leather long-sleeved under shirt he was wearing with the black sweat pants from the night before.

"Yes, I think I am beginning to understand, you Midgardians obtain clothing from stores that have them already made?" Fandral asked, brandishing a fork full of eggs as he attempted to make sense of our ways.

"Yes," Jane answered, studying him with her 'gathering information' face on, "What is it you did on Asgard to get new clothes?"

"We have them made." He answered simply, "The clothing artisans come and take measurements, you tell them what you want, and they bring you the finished clothing when they are done."

I took a swig of orange juice, trying to imagine a life with hand sewn clothes and feasts everyday; it didn't seem real. We ate for a few minutes in silence, all lost in our own little worlds.

Jane broke it by putting down her knife and fork and announcing, "Coulson is coming by today to give me back our equipment. He's also going to connect us into government research databases to help continue my work."

"I'm still not sure working for S.H.I.E.L.D. is the best idea," Erik cautioned, only looking out for Jane.

"I have to do it, Erik," Jane insisted, a fire in her eyes as she spoke, "S.H.E.I.L.D. recorded 3 of the Einstein-Rosen Bridges versus my 1, that is valuable intel I could use to find or maybe even make another one. Besides, they have access to information all over the world, what if there is another scientist out there who has found these before and knows how to predict them? I know it's a long shot, but this is the best shot I have, and I have to take it."

I had to admit it; I really admired her determination and drive. Sure, she could sometimes go out on limbs that lead nowhere, but once she had something in mind, there was no stopping her. And I could tell she had set her mind on finding Thor and she would keep trying to find a way to make a bridge until she succeeded. I really was impressed, if Fandral had gone through the portal and got stuck over there, I would still be on the eating loads of ice cream in my bed with the lights off watching every single Nicholas Sparks movie ever made and any other tragic romance I could get my hands on. But that wasn't Jane, it never was and it never would be. She was a woman of science and action and forward motion. She would never stop on her quest for answers or the truth and now she would never stop 'til she was reunited with Thor.

"Well, do what you must." Erik relented, having known her all of her life and when she was going to be stubborn about something, "I just want you to make sure you are careful, you hear me?"

"I hear you." Jane answered, definitely stubborn as anything but I could tell she knew how Dr. Selvig worried about her, so she'd listen to him in the end.

Just then I looked up and saw a small army of black SUVs driving through town towards us.

"Well here they come." I commented, wiping my mouth on my napkin, and standing up.

The others turned to see the incoming agents and stood up as well. Jane went over and flipped the switch to open the garage door allowing one of the vans to pull right up inside of our nearly empty former lab space while the others pulled up off to the side of the building. Coulson climbed out of the passenger seat of the one that drove in, as always in his crisp black suit and an air of self-importance about him.

"Put everything back as it was." Coulson called to the other agents as they unloaded Jane's life's work. He then walked over to where I stood with Jane, Erik and Fandral. I found myself instinctively gravitating closer to Fandral. I didn't like Coulson nor did I entirely trust him yet but I put up with him because I thought that he and his organization could really help Jane, "Good morning Ms. Foster."

"Morning." She replied civilly. They really hadn't gotten off to the best start, but they both realized that they would have to play nice to further Jane's research.

"I'm sorry, we couldn't locate your notebook, it seems to have gone missing from our facility." Coulson said eyeing Erik. He was a clever and I could tell he knew that Thor had swiped the notebook from the crater site and gave it back to Jane. She must have known this too but she just stuck out her chin defiantly, neither confirming nor denying his assumptions. _Atta girl._

"I trust you've brought back everything else." Jane said confidently not giving an inch.

"Down to the last cable." Coulson assured evenly, his gaze locked with Jane as they stared each other down amidst the swarm of guys in suits hauling all of Jane's gadgets in. When they both decided that they were on the same level, they broke their stare and Coulson looked around, "Where's your friend?"

"Busy." Jane answered cryptically, cleverly leaving out the fact that Thor may be stuck in another realm for a very long time. I found it interesting that we all knew who he meant by 'friend'. Thor was the type who stood out and whose absence didn't go unnoticed.

Then the Agent's eyes found Fandral slightly behind me, his shirt, hair and beard kinda yelling 'one of these things is not like the other!' in contrast to the rest of us, "And who's this?"

"Fandral the Dashing, warrior of Asgard." Fandral said, stepping forward to shake hands. I was proud of him for remembering that Earthen custom.

"The Dashing?" Coulson asked as if he thought Fandral was messing with him, not getting that that was just his title. Fandral just nodded as if it were the most obvious thing on the planet. Coulson then wisely chose to file this away and instead asked, "Asgard? Is that where Thor came from?"

"Indeed it was." Fandral answered good-naturedly, having not had any unpleasant encounters with the man to mar his manners.

"So are you a friend of his?" Coulson asked, clearly gathering intel.

I stepped in to answer I was still mad at him for taking our stuff, so I chose to cut off his contact with the trusting warrior, "Yes he is. Thor sent him to look out for us and to make sure you held up your end of the bargain. Speaking of which, can I have my iPod back now?"

I heard Jane scoff behind me and I just knew she was rolling her eyes, the woman was brilliant but she would never get my voraciousness for music or my obsession with my iPod, but I didn't care. If she could get all stubborn about how S.H.I.E.L.D. could help her then I was going to get all stubborn about getting my iPod back.

"Of course." Coulson replied in his most diplomatic tone, as he turned and took a Ziploc with my favorite piece of technology and blue earbuds from one of his goons before handing it to me, "Everything shall be returned, as agreed."

"It better or your truce with Asgard will be over." I taunted. I am sure Coulson was just doing his job, but he really got to me. Jane politely stepped on my foot to tell me to shut the hell up.

"Well then we will have nothing to worry about," Agent Coulson replied coolly, clearly used to people being less than pleasant towards him and knew how to take it.

"No, we should be just fine." Jane insisted, trying to cover up my little burst of temper, dead-set on making things work with S.H.I.E.L.D. She then leaned closer and said quietly, just to me, "Why don't you got take Fandral shopping for clothes now? It could take awhile before these guys leave and I know you don't like him, but I really don't need you antagonizing this guy. So please for me?"

I saw that look in her eyes of desperation, as she believed that working with these guys, despite their government affiliation and the way they went about things, would really help and she needed them. Besides that look had never not gotten to me. "Alright alright. We'll go. Call if you need anything, okay?"

"Okay, I will. Thank you, thank you." Jane said, relief coloring her face and voice and I was glad that there was something I could do to alleviate her worries.

I took out the iPod and stuffed it in my pocket, tossing the Ziploc on the nearest table as I stepped closer to Fandral and patted his arm, "Hey, they might be here for awhile, how about we go get you some normal clothes while they are at it?"

Fandral seemed intrigued by the flurry of activity as the former auto shop started looking more and more like the lab again, but he locked his pretty eyes on me and said amiably, "If this is what you wish, then we shall."

"Yeah, it'd really help with Jane's peace of mind if we skedaddled." I informed him, "I just have to head upstairs to grab my shoes and purse and then we are good to go."

"Very well, I shall accompany you." Fandral said in his typical courteous manner.

I smirked as we went back to the small apartment. Within a minute I met Fandral back in the living room to see him fastening his belt with his sword attached to it. I giggled, "You taking that with you?"

"Yes, in case Loki or anything else dangerous happens, it is best to be prepared." He said matter-of-factly, as he placed his hand on the hilt of the sword.

Hey, if that made Fandral feel better out and about, who was I to argue? I still have my taser in my purse, "Okey dokey then."

As I led us back downstairs I suddenly realized that on my college student salary I could not afford to buy this guy a feasible wardrobe so I went right up to Coulson and poked him once in the back to get his attention.

He turned around, surprised to see me, "Yes, may I help you?"

"Yeah, you can. Fandral here needs a new wardrobe." I informed him simply.

Coulson looked Westley up and down, noting the sweatpants and strange attire, "Yes he does. Why are you telling me?"

"Well since he's here to help protect the planet and all that and help you out with this super special research, I figured you guys could pitch in, unless you would like for him to walk around, drawing attention to himself and having people asking questions about your cover-up." Okay, maybe it wasn't the best policy to blackmail a government agent or go asking for money, but hey, if we're helping him out, he might as well pitch in.

"You have a point." Coulson admitted, clearly impressed by my nerve and quick-thinking, as he reached in his pocket and pulled out a checkbook before scribbling out a check and ripping it out, "This should cover it."

I took it from him and looked at it, my eyes widening in shock. I had never sent that much money, much less spent that much on clothes in my entire life, but hey, I was not complaining. With this Fandral was definitely going to blend in, no problem. And if I ended up with a hat or a sweater to replace the ones I lost yesterday, well I was only restocking, "Um, yeah, that'll do it."

"Thought so." Coulson said with a mischievous smile I didn't know he had. Okay, maybe he wasn't such a bad guy after all.

"Okay, leaving now." I said not only to him but to Jane and Erik as I led Fandral out of the busy lab, heading around the building to my vintage VW Bug, "Well let's go get some clothes."

With that, Fandral and I got into the car and took off on a mission.

**Author's Note: yay! Clothes shopping next. I just needed to establish things in this chapter.**

**And for the record, I don't hate Coulson. He just kinda swept in and from their perspectives, he could be a little cold and uncaring, so yeah, they didn't get off on the best foot but they'll come around to be less antagonistic in the end.**

**Oh, in the good news department I totally sat down last night and planned out, like really nailed down, the next ten or so chapters and let me tell you I am so excited. This story is going somewhere really interesting and I am eager to go there.**

**Hee hee. I am just so jazzed right now. Took my friend to see Thor yesterday and though he had reservations, he loved it and is adding it to his top ten movies. Also that was my fourth time getting to see it. finally taking one of my sisters to see it tomorrow for the big number five viewing! So yeah, I am really inspired and happy right now!**

**Okay, please shoot me a review and tell me what you thought about it or if you have any concerns or questions. I promise I will try my best to answer.**


	3. Dress Up With My Very Own Ken Doll

**Disclaimer: No I am not Darcy or Jane or anybody else in Thor or anyone who created or owns Thor, I am just a humble fanfic writer telling a story I wanted to be told.**

**Author's Note: I am back again my darlings. I really have missed you all a great deal. Life got busy this week but I have been crafting this chapter. It's longer than the last few and I have grown fond of it.**

**You guys are all fabulous and literally make me light up every time I read any of your reviews or get a new favorite or story alert. This story would not be the same without you. So kudos to b, Valforwing, Scarlet Feather23, cloudlake, fiducia, Sukkiru, Sheherazade's Fable, JediPrincess-Knight, Telulu Hunter, rebel-bred, Seasammy13, V EPSILON, beesting08, Thera-Rocklynn, Andy Lauren, Ravyn Jayne, and heb1120 for all of the reviews and a high five to everyone who favorited or subscribed. **

**I love you all.**

**Hee hee, let the clothes shopping commence!**

_Chapter 3: In which Darcy explains the color purple and age is just a number._

**(And I'm going through and adding chapter subtitles like this one ^ for all of the chapters of this sequel just for kicks.)**

It had been an interesting morning so far to say the least. After depositing the enormous check safely at the bank, I drove a little out of town to Thelma's Clothing Barn. I knew with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s financing we could have gone farther out to Dillard's or something, but I liked the clothes at Thelma's; they had a more realistic, homey feel to them you couldn't get at a department store. From there I had to explain to Fandral the process of finding the right size, which completely befuzzled him after hundreds of years of clothes made to fit. I had Fandral check the sizes of the sweatpants so I was able to guess he was around a few sizes smaller than that, but I'd forgotten to check the sweatshirt's size so that was just shot in the dark. When it came to the actual type of clothes, I basically let Fandral see what seemed best while steering him away from the crazier selections like ponchos or anything 'gangster'.

I was glad that Thelma's was so low-key, because not having many other customers made it less awkward for Fandral to walk around with a sword at his hip. Fortunately, Thelma was an eccentric free spirit who didn't care if you had a sword as long as you kept it to yourself. I was also grateful for the fact that, eccentric and homey though she was she had a small selection of brand new boxers that we were able to buy straight away before I could begin to feel too awkward.

It took several tries and a few awkward wardrobe changes for us to finally land on the right size, but once we did the whole experience got a lot easier. I kept Westley away from any shirts with logos or any Earth references on them and led him more towards the solids and simple patterns. I will, however, never forget the priceless image of Fandral in a Hawaiian shirt he somehow slipped past my filter. I also ended up teaching him the all important lesson that not all colors or types of shirts looked good on everyone and that some colors meant different things on different people.

"No. Not purple." I responded matter-of-factly when he held up a bright purple polo.

"Why not?" The Dashing Asgardian asked, looking again at the rejected top as he tried to figure out why I turned it down.

"Because it will make you look gay." I informed him as delicately as possible, while I continued to peruse the guys' section in his size.

"Why would this color make me look happy? And why is that a bad thing?" He inquired, completely confused.

"No, it wouldn't make you look happy it would make you look…" I paused trying to explain, stymied at our cultural and colloquial understanding gap, "um, queer. Yeah, it would make you look queer."

"Not happy but strange? How could one color do both things and if purple is such a strange color, why are you wearing it?" He continued on, indicating the long sleeved purple undershirt I wore. It was odd how he made me both want to laugh and slam my head against the clothing rack with a single question.

"It's okay for girls to wear it." I clarified.

"Then why did someone make this shirt for men in this shade?" He continued to pepper me with questions, clearly not understanding what I was saying but trying to.

"Because some guys _can_ wear purple." I told him, realizing I was doing a very bad job at explaining the rules of fashion when it came to homosexuality.

"But I can't. Why not?" He queried as I realized we were going in circles.

"Because," I began, cutting to the chase at last, "Except for a few special circumstances, when a guy wears purple it means that they are interested in guys instead of girls."

"Interested?" He repeated warily, almost as if he was beginning to see the light but it was still dim.

"Romantically." I answered, turning on the light at last, causing Fandral to put the shirt back very quickly.

"Is there a color that signifies the opposite of purple?" He questioned nervously.

"Just stay away from pinks and purples to be safe and any bright yellow for good measure." I advised with a chuckle before thinking some more and tacking on, "Oh and orange; but that's just because it will make you look like you're in prison."

Fandral nodded intently but smirked at me as he committed my words to memory.

I then pulled out a nice looking tan jacket and felt the need to add for clarification's sake, "Tan, beige, and khaki, however are all good."

He grinned at me in his adorable manner and we continued on. I learned his favorite color was green and was therefore able to pick out a lot of varying shades of green I thought he'd look good in as well as some blues, reds, grays, and blacks in variations of sweaters, t-shirts, wife beaters, coats, over shirts and a couple of nice button-up dress shirts. When we'd both filled the cart with a wide assortment of clothes that were finally the right size, I rolled the cart to the changing room at the back. From there I paired some tops with bottoms for him to try on together to expedite things. He then very seriously took off his belt with the sword attached and handed it to me, I guess to defend myself if we were attacked, but probably because it wasn't easy changing clothes with a long piece of metal strapped to your waist.

By this point it was 11:00 AM on a Tuesday morning, which was not exactly a prime shopping time, so Fandral and I had the place to ourselves, besides Thelma who stayed at the counter at the front, giving us the luxury of being able to speak freely about Asgard-y things.

"So Fandral, tell me, how old are you exactly?" I asked, fiddling with the hilt of the sword I held in my lap.

There was a little pause accompanied by the rustle of clothing, after which I heard him tentatively ask, "Why do you ask?"

I shrugged, even though I knew he couldn't see me, watching his now jean-clad legs underneath the stall door, "Curious I guess."

There was another little moment of silence as I saw him shift to face the mirror on the far wall before he turned back around and opened the stall door. He had a serious and calculating look on his face, but I had to admit he looked gobbsmackingly good in a tight, plain, dark red t-shirt and dark jeans. I was so distracted that I nearly missed the question he asked, quietly but intently, "Does it matter to you?"

I brought my eyes up to his face and saw the worry and concern in his eyes, as they seemed to say he was worried that if I knew how much older than me he was that I would run screaming and reject him. I stared him right in his concerned blue eyes and answered him completely straight, "In the end, no. But I would like to know, all the same."

He held my gaze as if trying to see if I was just saying it to appease him or not, after a minute, it became clear to him that what I spoke was the truth and he lessened his intensity and looked away, relieved.

The contact broken I returned my gaze to his clothes and informed him, "Those look good, if they are comfortable, put them in the pile of clothes we are buying."

He nodded and returned to his stall, shutting the small door behind him, and I tried not to get all giggly at the site of his jeans pooling around his ankles underneath the door. As he changed, he spoke up, answering my earlier question, "The people of Asgard and Midgard have different life spans. Though I may look around your age, I have looked this way for hundreds of years."

I didn't say anything as I let this sink in. It didn't bug me perhaps as much as it should that he was ridiculously older than me, though it did bug me that he would probably continue to look as handsome and attractive as he did now for probably as long as I would know him and probably long after I died. It was something to consider, that was for sure, but not today. I couldn't think morbid thoughts about our future when I didn't even know how long he would be on the planet, let alone what our current relationship could be defined as. So I compartmentalized, I was good at that, I decided to file this new information away under serious matters to brood on later.

"Ah." I finally said quietly as he came out again this time in standard blue jeans, a white wife beater and a flannel over shirt in shades of red, green and yellow. He held out his arms for me to appraise the ensemble. "The jeans look a little short, are they tight?"

"They are slightly more confining then the last pair." Fandral answered as he squeezed a finger under the waistband, before moving his finger up around his neck to fidget with the collar, "And this outer garment is scratchy and itchy."

"Okay, no to the pants and the flannel over shirt." I summed up, squinting at it, "Yeah, and it's uglier then I remembered anyway. If the tank top is comfortable you should try it with one of the other options like that light greens and blues one made of the lighter material."

He nodded, turning around to look at the clothes he had hung up, taking out the shirt I mentioned, "This one?"

"Yes, try it with that one." I confirmed before he proceeded to whip off the flannel and toss it in the discard pile and removed the new option from the hanger. I don't know whether he was meaning to do it, but he had left me, once more staring at him like a gape-mouthed fish as I ogled his defined arms and made the mental decision that he looked grrrrreat in wife beaters and would have to make sure we got him plenty. I then found myself in the happy daydream world of him running around in wife beaters all the time, lifting things, wielding his sword and making me swoon.

"My lady?" Westley asked tentatively, waking me from my fantasy, "Did you hear me?"

I shook my head of the last vestiges of my idle visions, and answered, automatically, "Uh huh, sure, but could you repeat that please?"

He smiled indulgently, getting slowly used to and I dare say, fond of my sporadic way of thinking so many other guys before him had found frustrating and annoying, before repeating himself slowly and sweetly, "I said, 'I find this one much more breezy and comfortable, does it suit me?' "

I assessed the shirt, critically, replying, "Yes yes. Much better. That one is a keeper."

"Good." He said, retreating to change into another combo.

We spent the next couple of hours like this, experimenting and trying different combinations, as I slowly developed a fashion sense for the wayward warrior. The bulk of his tops were greens, blues, tans, beiges and blacks, with some red tops thrown in. Soon he had a wardrobe that would stretch the storage capacity of my closet even more than it already was, but it was fine. I had an extra storage closet in the living room I would now have a reason to clear out. Fandral was adorable. Earth clothing confounded him in the strangest ways. He thought zippers were intriguing and still wasn't sure what to make of denim. I had a blast, despite me not being the one trying things on. Remember when you were younger and would spend hours playing dress up with Barbies? Well this was just like that but about a 1000 times better. This Ken doll was life-sized, attractive, not made of plastic and would sometimes give me these little looks or winks that would make me wanna melt. This Ken doll liked me, so let's just say I had a LOT more fun.

When he'd gotten the hang of it I might wander back into the central part of the store, exchanging some clothing selections or browsing through girls' coats and hats. I found a few things that suited me, and maybe a new blouse or two. And a new purse. But I spent most of the time helping Fandral out, laughing, talking about nothing and spent sometime explaining some of the more peculiar Earth customs to him. And I didn't get tired of it. I could see how a lot of people could get fed up with trying explain to people exactly how things like the TV and cell phones worked but I got a kick out of Fandral's confused face and was very touched by how hard he tried to make sense of this culture he had kind of chosen to join me in.

When it was almost 2 and my stomach was beginning to bug me again, we finally made our way to the cash register with two carts filled with our selections. I caught Fandral making his patented Earth-related confusion face when I used my card with the government's funds but shot him a look that said, 'I'll explain later'. With all of the clothes paid for, Thelma let Fandral go back and change into one of his new outfits so he didn't have to wander around town in the sweatpants and leather under armor shirt thing.

"I think you have quite a keeper there, Darcy." Thelma said to me in confidence. In the past while Jane and I had stayed in Puente Antiguo, I will admit, I had been a frequent customer of Thelma, and I thought her to be a really fun lady.

"You think so?" I asked, leaning against the handle of the cart.

"Oh definitely, the way you two laugh with each other, there is definitely something special there." She said almost conspiratorially.

I smiled at her, "Thanks."

"Don't mention it, hon." She said with a big smile as Fandral came back, holding his old clothes as he wore a dark green shirt and some of the dark jeans we had just purchased along with his sword once more secure around his waist.

"See ya Thelma!" I called as I started rolling my cart out of the store once Fandral was behind me with his cart.

"Bye dear!" Thelma said in response as we headed out to the mostly empty parking lot. I found my mind thinking about what Thelma said about Fandral being a keeper as I found myself hovering once more on the issue of what exactly Fandral was to me.

"Well that was certainly productive." Fandral remarked with a grin as we loaded the trunk and backseat with clothes.

"Uh huh." I said, though my mind was elsewhere.

"Why do I get the feeling, that your mind is no longer in the here and now?" He asked, in his sweet understanding way as I looked up and saw his face tilted down to meet my gaze.

"Probably because you are incredibly perceptive." I said looking down again shoving my hands in my pockets, feeling bad for being so flighty.

"What occupies your thoughts so?" He asked in his overly formal diction I found endearing.

"Um…us." I admitted begrudgingly. I was not what anyone could call an expert on relationships. I'd never really had a successful serious one. The only ones that had lasted more than a month had ended on really bad terms because we weren't on the same page and/or because the guy was a real jerk in the end. So here was this seemingly perfect guy who cared about me, was I supposed to ask him about our relationship? I had no idea, so I figured I'd go for it, letting the little questions that had been swirling in my head all day out in one rambling stream, "What are we? Are we dating? Are we roommates who kiss when one of them has to go to another realm? Are we just friends? Does that kiss in your culture mean that we are married or betrothed? Or are we just shopping buddies who flirt ceaselessly? What are we Fandral? What are we?"

Fandral dropped the clothes he was holding unceremoniously into the car and made his way over to me with a look of great intent in his eye. Once he'd rounded the shopping cart he put both of his hands on my shoulders and said in a very determined fashion, "I am Fandral the Dashing, Warrior of Asgard and Protector of Earth. You are Lady Darcy, Student of Midgard. And of all of the females of the 9 realms, I have feelings for only you. You confound and amuse me in ways no one else has but I would rather be with you than any other. In my realm, when a man and a woman cared for each other they might call it courting in which each is loyal to only the other. What is it this is called here on Earth?"

"Dating." I said almost incomprehensibly. I was having difficulty wrapping my head around the fact that he was actually saying these things and that not only was I there but he was saying them to me. If he wasn't looking deep into my eyes in the most earnest fashion, I probably would not have believed it.

"Dating." He repeated, trying out the strange term, straightening up slightly, moving his hands down to hold mine in a way that made my heart go absolutely crazy, "Very well then, Darcy Lewis, I would like very much to date you. Would you like to date me?"

"Oh god yes." I answered fervently, letting go of his hands to wrap them behind his neck as he came in for a kiss. It was much easier to kiss without armor and strange capey things in the way of my hands. I could feel his defined shoulder muscles beneath my arms as they contracted as he brought his hands up to do the same as me, feeling his way into my hair and deepening the kiss. After a couple moments of this when I began to remember how very much I liked kissing, I pulled back, gasping for air. I nearly lost it and jumped on him again when I saw him grinning devilishly at me as he, too, caught his breath, but I managed to hold back.

"I think I am going to like this 'dating'." He remarked as he reached up to smooth out his impressive beard.

"Oh, you and me both, Mister." I agreed, putting the last of the clothes into the backseat in an attempt to keep my hands busy and out of his hair.

Fandral shot me a grin as he went back and put the clothes he had dropped into the trunk so unceremoniously in neater. Just then as I shut the backseat door on the driver's side, my phone rang. I quickly reached into my pocket and took out my phone, seeing it was Jane. Before picking up I pointed to the cart rack by the store and said quickly to Fandral, "I'm gonna get this, could you please put the carts back?"

"Very well." He agreed, putting the carts together and rolling them off as I clicked talk.

"Hey Jane, what's up?" I asked, putting the phone to my ear.

"Oh I wanted to let you know, we got all of the equipment set back up and they installed some of their own devices. They've just finished explaining everything to me and walking me through access to their satellites and making me promise to not abuse the privileges I've been given. Basically, my research is going to go farther than it has ever gone before." She babbled excitedly.

"That's great Jane." I said mildly, I would never understand most of her tech talk or her scientific fascination, but I got how important it was to her, "We've just finished up here so we'll be heading back soon. Are they all gone now?"

"Yes Darcy," I could just imagine her rolling her eyes as she always did when I exasperated her, "The coast is clear."

"Sweet." I said, glad I wouldn't have to dodge the diplomatic minefield of not ticking off any more S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.

"Okay then, I guess I'll see you two soon, I've got to go get started on some theories of mine." Jane said, clearly eager to get onto her research.

"Have fun." I replied, half in jest, half sincerity, "See ya."

"Yeah, see you." Jane responded, and I could practically see the phone drop like in the cartoons as she whizzed off to get started, complete with dust clouds left in her wake.

Our conversation done, I returned my phone to my pocket just in time for Fandral to meet me at the back of the car after I closed the trunk.

"Are we done here, my lady?" He asked me with a smirk.

"Yep, back to the lab." I replied, leaning against my Bug, overcome with the desire to just make out with him against it 'til the cows came home. Unfortunately, I had an ounce of practicality within me that wouldn't allow it, so I straightened up and motioned toward the car, "Come on, let's go."

He nodded once in acquiescence as he went around to the passenger side, took off his sword so he could sit down and climbed in. When both of us were in and buckled and the car was on, Fandral took my hand as I reached for the gear shift and he kissed it again, making me giggle as he let it go.

"Oh you are going to make it hard to concentrate on the road." I informed him in a less than scolding manner as I put the car in drive.

"I shall try my best to behave." He promised earnestly.

"Uh huh, I'm sure." I said with a smirk as we took off, giddy as can be that I actually had a boyfriend in the car with me. This internship with Jane was suddenly about a billion times less boring than it was a week ago.

**Author's Note: Aw, I love these two. and I actually enjoyed this chapter a lot.**

**Also, what say you about the new subtitles I added.**

**Let me know what you think, constructive criticism is welcomed with open arms. I am always open to suggestions to make this story better.**

**Okay, you guys rock, please review.**


	4. Who's That Something on the Radio?

**Disclaimer: I don't own the awesome stuff, I just write fanfics with it.**

**Author's Note: HEY LOOK I AM BACK! WOO HOO!**

**Before I go on to anything else I would like to say how sorry I am for such an extended leave of absence. My real life is absolutely bonkers. I have left the state twice for a sci-fi convention and a week long-ish big hoo-ha family vacation. I was one for several days without a computer house sitting. I have actually seen my friends many times, been sick about 4 times, planned, executed and enjoyed my Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 Midnight Release Party/Sleepover and been generally and unusually occupied. I have also been writing on 3 stories at once. Intense man. **

**Bottom line: I still love you guys and this story so that is why I am back.**

**SHOUT OUT AND MANY HUGS TO THE REVIEWERS FO THE LAST CHAPTER:**

**Sheherazade's Fable, chatnoir1, Thera-Rocklynn, beesting08, rebel-bred, Shyma Tavrott Lupin, Winter, JediPrincess-Knight, Telulu Hunter, and katididnot. I love all of you beautiful people.**

**Now I'll let you read the chap and yammer more at the bottom.**

Chapter 4: In which Darcy doesn't know the words and Jane and Fandral have the talk.

From Thelma's we went to the one grocery store in town which was an experience in and of itself with a newbie shopper. When we had finally gotten all of the food and ingredients we would need for the next week or so and I restocked the hot pockets, we checked out. Fandral found the check out conveyor belt particularly fascinating. I reacted much as I had the entire errand whenever he looked at anything with wonder that the normal folks found mundane I would just smile at them while internally telling them all to bugger off and mind their own business.

Once we were all checked out and shoved the groceries in the backseat we were off again. After about half a minute, I got a little antsy about the quiet, but didn't know what to say, so I turned on the radio. Much to my delight, it was a song I knew so I started singing along and beating out on the steering wheel, "Your sweet movies, the smell of you in every single dream I dream, I knew when we collided you're the one I have decided was one of my kind."

I had reached one of the few stop lights in town so I turned to look at Fandral to see a bemused expression on his face while he alternated between looking at the radio and me.

Rather than explain the radio and probably the vast differences between the music of Asgard and Midgard I sang even louder despite not knowing all the words with more pop to my dancing, "Hey soul sister, ain't that something something on the radio stereo? The way you move ain't fair y'know! Hey soul sister I don't wanna miss a single thing you dooooo-oh-ah tonight!"

He clearly didn't understand quite what was going on but he made a good show of it as he attempted to bop his head in time to the music with the biggest grin on his face, making me want to make out with him right then and there. I, wisely, contained myself as I sung along the best I could as I made our way back to the auto shop.

When we arrived, the song was almost over, so I kept the engine on so I could finish rather than exit immediately.

"Hey-eh, hey-eh-eh-eh-eh, hey-eh-eh-eh-eh tonight." I vocalized finishing the song as I turned off the car.

Fandral didn't get out immediately, but instead chose to grin at me in this flattering way as if I was the most amazing thing in the universe. I quickly averted my gaze and busied myself with my seat belt.

"You sing well." He said sincerely, causing me to look up through a loose bang that had escaped from behind my ear, to see him once again giving me that warm and pure smile.

"Heh heh," I chuckled nervously, putting the stray hairs back in place, meeting his gaze, "thanks. I mean, I am no professional or anything, I just like music."

He didn't say anything, though I don't suppose I left him much to say anything with my rambling, I was sure he was back to looking at me again in that way of his that makes my heart pitter-pat and wonder if I accidentally slipped some sort of love potion to make him act this way. So instead I cleared my throat as I unbuckled and opened the car door.

"Will you help me take the groceries in first? The clothes can wait." I asked as I got out of the Bug.

"As you wish." He answered from over the top of the small car once he had exited as well.

"Stop that, we've got food that needs refrigerating and that's not going to happen if you turn me into a giggling mess." I chastised lightly as I couldn't help but giggle then added as an afterthought as I opened the backseat, "You don't even know what that means."

"I know it brings you great amusement and leads to more kissing." He pointed out as he removed groceries from his side of the car.

"You're getting snarkier." I commented before hoisting a gallon of milk in my arms and grabbing about 3 more bags, shutting the car door behind me with my hip and heading inside, "I like it."

He grinned at me from above the 7 plastic bags in his arms and beamed devilishly as he followed me in.

"Lucy we're home!" I shouted to Jane from the kitchen as I dropped the three other bags on the table and deposited the milk in the fridge. I looked over to the lab area to see Jane where she must have been poring over what looked like a new high-tech laptop just in time to see her jump like she always does when she's been sucked into her work.

I motioned to where the car was parked and asked, "Mind helping us put stuff away?"

"No of course not." She replied quickly in her typical flustered manned, closing the laptop as she stood, "goodness, what time is it?"

"A little after four. Have you been playing with your new toys since we got off the phone?" I asked to gauge how much time she had lost track of.

"Not playing," she clarified sternly as Fandral dropped his load off on the table, helping me empty the plastic bags, "just acclimating myself to the new equipment."

"Uh huh, sure." I teased knowing how caught up she could get with new gadgets.

"I was." She insisted.

"Of course you were. I believe you." I said, my tone layered high with sarcasm.

"Well I notice you two were gone a very long time." She countered shrewdly.

"I'll have you know," I defended, as Fandral got more stuff from the car, "that we are officially dating now so we are allowed to lollygag as long as we'd like."

"Dating. Really?" She inquired, surprised, "Does he even know what that means?"

"Of course he does." I assured her, putting things in the cabinets. "I told him about it."

"That's just very sudden that's all." She said, clearly slightly unsettled at the news.

"Well it's fine. I like him, he likes me so there's no point in beating around the bush." I informed her, slightly annoyed at her reaction.

"Of course not, you just caught me off guard. I'm happy for you two." She explained, her brow furrowed in thought.

"Well thanks." I said, while secretly unsettled by the way she was acting. I chose to brush past it though and added, "Where's Erik?"

"He said he had some research to do, some sort of project. Not sure, he was acting a little strange." Jane answered her brow furrowing even more.

"Well things have been very strange around here." I reasoned, before adding "Hey, I'm gonna go get the rest of the clothes out and then take a shower. Could you show Fandral which groceries go where?"

"Sure, no problem." She replied with a bit of a preoccupied tone she normally has when faced with a particularly difficult formula or equation.

"Thanks." I said half-heartedly, not reassured by her response, "But try not to worry too much about Erik, I'm sure he's just got a lot on his plate what with S.H.I.E.L.D. and everything hiring him too."

"I'll try." She said, waving me upstairs, clearly needing some space of her own.

But my mind was quickly taken off of my worry when I passed Fandral on my way to unload the rest of the clothes and he held out his hand to squeeze mine once. Hands down having a boyfriend was awesome.

When Fandral's now extensive wardrobe was piled on my couch for the moment I ushered Fandral downstairs earning a precious grin from him before I retired for a much needed shower.

Half an hour later with fresh clothes, wet hair and an over all very pleasant feeling, I began making my way downstairs again with Fandral's super duper bandage wrap, as my wrist was now completely healed and now longer needed it. The door was closed this time but the walls of the auto shop are not the most soundproof so I could still hear everything anyway and I would have gone straight through if it hadn't been for something I heard Jane say.

"Okay so I know this is probably none of my business and that Darcy is a big girl and can make her own choices but…" I heard Jane pause awkwardly in her babbling and I found myself most intrigued to hear where she was going with this. Jane half-chuckled nervously and went on, "This is going to sound terribly old fashioned but Darcy told me that you two were dating and I can't help but worry about her. I know that you probably mean nothing bad, but we hardly know you so I have to ask: what are your intentions?"

I inched closer to the door.

Is eavesdropping wrong? Yes, yes it is.

Should I be doing it? No, probably not.

But should my boss be having a 'what are your intentions' talk with my new Norse god boyfriend? I wasn't sure, it kinda depended on what they both said. So, yes, I was a bad person and just stood there in the stairway listening in.

"This is not meant as an insult, but you are not directly related to Lady Darcy, are you?" I could here him ask in that eloquent way I adored.

I could tell Jane was very flustered, she didn't talk about personal details much, but this obviously meant something to her. "No, her family is back in LA but I get the feeling they aren't close anyway. But that doesn't matter because I feel very responsible for her because I am her boss and the reason she's here in New Mexico and she is very young and I want to make sure that you aren't some sort of sexual predator or something."

I put my hand to my forehead, knowing Jane, that was not at all what she wanted to say.

I was proved right nearly immediately upon hearing Jane say fervently, "Not that I think you are or would even tell me if you were. I mean, you're Thor's friend and he trusts you so obviously you can't be…Um. This isn't coming out right."

Fandral's deep chuckle stopped Jane in her awkward puttering, "There is no need to go on, I understand your intentions for I too care very much for Darcy. I would be very disappointed if her guardian was less than defensive of her." There was a slight pause in which I grinned like an idiot before he continued, "I don't know how long I will be on this planet or if what Darcy and I have will last but I do know that as long as I am here, I will care very deeply for your charge. I promise to be nothing but a gentleman so long as she is in your care. Deal?"

"What is with you Asgardians and your deals?" Jane chuckled in response before answering seriously, "Yes, that is all I wanted to hear. I can tell you are a good guy but I just can't help but worry about her."

"I understand." He replied empathetic to my sponsor's internal plight, which I greatly appreciated, "It is your duty. Feel free to ask me whatever you wish."

"I'll keep that in mind." Jane informed him and I could just tell her entire outlook on him had changed with a few sentences. My man was good. I too was very impressed with his answer. He may not have known I was listening but he definitely earned points in my book for handling that so well.

When a moment passed in silence I figured now was as good a time as any for my entrance and opened to door.

"Boy does that feel better." I announced as their eyes shot to me. Fandral greeted me with his typical grin from where he sat at the table attempting to make sense of a newspaper. I held back a giggle as I joined him, and asked, "So what's up?"

"I'm introducing your boyfriend to Mac 'n' Cheese." Jane answered pointing to the open box with the wooden spoon she was using to stir noodles with.

"Ah, a classic food, my friend, you will not be disappointed." I assured Fandral with a smile, patting his hand.

"So Jane has insisted." Fandral agreed, holding up the paper, "She also has begun instructing me on this Midgard news source."

"How very logical." I assessed with a knowing grin in Jane's direction.

"Don't mock me. If he's to spend any time here it'd be a very good idea for him to know more about Earth and what's going on." Jane snapped back as she set the timer to let the noodles boil.

"Yeah but," I started before looking at the front of the section he was currently perusing, "I'm not sure if it's exactly crucial for him to know how well Pirates of the Caribbean 4 is doing in theaters." I halted for a moment before adding on as an after thought, "Hey, you totally said you'd take me to see that."

Jane grinned at me in a lightly condescending way, "You know Darcy, I'm not sure if that's the point."

"Right," I agreed getting back on track, "My point is if you are going to introduce the newspaper to him you should at least start with the comics because Dexter and Pearls Before Swine are freaking hilarious."

"Forgive me for trying to give him the facts before sharing the Englsih-challenged crocodiles with him."

I stuck out my tongue at her before fishing out the comics to read myself as she finished the Mac n Cheese while all the while Fandral would occasionally make a funny noise in response to something in the paper.

When the food was done, Jane graciously shared her delicious cheese-soaked noodles with us.

Fandral made a noise of surprised appreciation upon his first taste, "Mmmmmm. This is actually really good."

I just giggled at him, "Well it's good that you like it, because it's a bit of a staple around here."

"That I do not mind." He assured me, eyes glued to the orange concoction in his bowl.

We spent the rest of the sort of meal of cheesy goodness in relative silence as Fandral ate hungrily at the new food.

When we had scraped the remaining mac n cheese from our bowls, Jane pushed hers away with an air that I had learned from experience to be 'Jane has an announcement to make'. I looked at her expectantly and she did not disappoint, "So how do you two feel about going on a little field trip with me tonight?"

"What's the mission?" I questioned, pushing my dish away as well.

"There's going to be a storm tonight. It's not exactly going to be like an Einstein-Rosenbridge but it shares some of the same properties and if I can track enough of the similarities it'll bring me that much closer to figuring out how to generate one of my own." Jane rambled excitedly as was her way when it came to new experiments.

"You seek to create your own Bifrost?" Fandral questioned with a raised brow.

"Not exactly." She enlightened, "I just think that if we can get across we can find out why Thor hasn't come back yet or if Asgard's Bifrost is broken or something."

"It will be dangerous." Fandral warned.

"I know, but I don't care. I just have to know what happened." Jane explained with a desperate fire in her eyes. That was Jane, and I could just tell it killed her to just sit here and do nothing without any answers. She would stop at nothing 'til she found a way there so Thor could explain why he hadn't come back yet. This was just something Jane had to do whether we helped or not but I became determined that she would not go through this alone.

"Count me in," I assured her, glad to see the way her eyes lit up before I turned to Fandral, "You coming too?"

His eyes twinkled at me in answer, "Where you lead I follow."

"Sounds good to me." I approved, looking back to Jane with a determined air, "What time are we leaving?"

**Author's Note: I love these people. I realized I'd unintentionally made Jane a tad peripheral so I decided to go more into what she is up to because she is harebrained and endearing.**

**I love you all and am so pleased to back among you at last.**

**My comp's being a retard so I'm trying my best to write more stuff for all of my lovely fanfiction people.**

**It is now far later than I intended so I will leave you now with the promise of intensity and drama and action within the next few chapter.  
><strong>

**Much love,**

**Fin out.**


	5. The Real Storm Wasn't the One in the Sky

**Disclaimer: These people are property of minds far more clever than me. This is all just for the amusement of me and my readers.**

**Author's Note: Hey look! I'm back and it hasn't been a month and a half! Wooooo! It'd be nice if I could keep this up, but I dunno.**

**I still feel just so bad for being gone for so long, like I let you guys down and as a result my readership has gone down a lot, which I guess I deserve. I'm sorry guys that I am not perfect. I may not update every week, but I will always come back.**

**And now I would like to thank the wonderful people who have stuck with me through the long wait, I love you guys. Lots of hugs and gratitude for the lovely JediPrincess-Knight, chatnoir1, katididnot, Sheherazade's Fable, and beesting08 for their patience and sweet words. **

**Okay, I really hope you guys like this chapter.**

Chapter 5: In which Darcy witnesses more than one storm and Fandral misses the stars.

The storm was forecasted to occur later that evening about three hours away so the three of us left very shortly after that. Jane drove and I sat in one of the two seats we kept up in the middle so I could explain a lot of the equipment as best as I could to Fandral. I have a feeling that someone else could have explained it better in terms he'd understand but seeing as I barely understood most of it myself, I found it hard to simplify it all for him. I just found it adorable that he tried. The actual storm basically consisted of Jane barking instructions out as she excitedly recorded as much data and visuals with as much equipment as she could.

The storm itself lasted about 30 minutes in which the van shook under the strength of all that rain that is seldom seen in the area around Puente Antigua but is much more prevalent in the mountains close to the Colorado border. We ended up staying probably a little less than an hour after the huge thunderclouds faded away taking with them the brilliant colors that flashed in their depths. Jane spent the time we stayed there to mutter excitedly while we synced up all of our data and double checked our readings as well as recording the norm conditions for that area to gain a better scope of the power of the storm.

Basically I smiled and nodded while Jane babbled on enthusiastically about the implications and scientific blah blah blah. I was glad that the mission seemed to be fruitful and that Jane still held onto her hope but I honestly didn't understand a lot of what she was going on about. Fandral didn't even bother to pretend like he understood but was at least smart enough not to ask her to explain or else we never would have left that rain soaked mountain valley.

It all ended up with the three of us not making it back to our base of operations of sorts until after 11. My expectations for the rest of the evening included Jane continuing to mumble incoherent scientific mumbo jumbo at her laptop long into the night while Fandral and I retreated upstairs so I could conk out. This didn't happen however because Erik was waiting inside when we got back. He seemed very agitated, drumming his fingers on the kitchen table top in the dark.

"Where were you?" he asked as though it was a crime to go anywhere without telling him.

"Out tracking a storm." Jane replied warily, dropping some of her equipment on the table closest to her before crossing her arms defensively.

"Why didn't you tell me? You know how much I want to help you get Thor back." Erik said, softening slightly.

"Well you kind of took off this afternoon before I even found the storm." Jane pointed out, clearly bitter about it.

"Besides," I said, stepping in in an attempt to diffuse the situation, "it was barely a three person job, you probably would have been left twiddling your thumbs."

He shot me a calculating look that didn't quite seem to fit the good-natured Dr. Selvig I know but in less then a second it faded and was replaced by a more pleasant demeanor as he pointed out gently, "I'm an astrophysicist with a Ph. D I'm sure I could've been of some use. Maybe if I'd been invited on the class field trip you and Fandral here wouldn't have been necessary at all."

I had to admit he was right. If Erik had been in attendance, Jane wouldn't have had to repeat or clarify her instructions as much and it probably would have gone a lot smoother. I almost felt stupid for not thinking of it sooner. Jane had just seemed so unnerved by him this afternoon it hadn't even occurred to me.

"We were more than happy to help in your stead." Fandral assured the older man, "It was no burden to help and we are more than willing to assist in the future."

"Well we'll keep that in mind." Erik responded, looking a great deal more satisfied.

I thought that that meant the situation was resolved but Jane had other ideas in mind, clearing her throat, "No we won't keep that in mind. Erik, this is my project and Darcy is my assistant, she's here for science credits and I am going to make sure she leaves well versed. I will not have you controlling my research just because you are the one with the doctorate. If Fandral wants to help too, he is more than welcome. It's his home we are trying to reach."

Erik looked a little ruffled but attempted to regain control of the situation, "I'm sorry Jane I was just trying to help."

"No, you're trying to take control of the project. You are pushing me to the side just like Dad used to. I am more than happy to have your knowledge and expertise but this is my lab and my mission. If you really wanted to help you wouldn't have taken off all cryptic and strange this afternoon. You don't get to be annoyed at me because you are the one who left." Jane stated, clearly annoyed like crazy at the man whom she used to view as father figure. I hated seeing them like this but Erik was being a little controlling and she had a point.

"I'm sorry. I truly am. I realize I was being a little hasty." He conceded, going over to her and putting both hands on her shoulders in a comforting gesture, "I want you to know that I am here for you in whatever capacity you need. If you would prefer me to back off, I will, however I sincerely hope you will allow me to assist you more actively."

Jane's stiff shoulders relaxed as she mellowed out from her high irritation, "Of course you can help. I need you but I just don't like feeling undermined."

"I understand." He assured, patting her shoulders and letting go, "It was my mistake and I hope you forgive me for it."

"I do." She replied, then checked her watch, addressing all of us, "It's late and I'm sure we're all just tired. Let's call it a night and regroup in the morning."

"Sounds like a plan." I agreed, silently hoping that whatever had made Erik so weird was just a result of a long weekend. I then grabbed Fandral's hand and headed to the stairs, calling to Jane and Erik, "Good night kids."

Fandral waved at them in farewell with his free hand as he followed me up. Once we were upstairs I shed my coat and hung it on my coat rack as I said, "Sorry for the domestics downstairs. They are normally very close but things can blow up sometimes."

"There is no need to apologize. They are like family. Families argue." Fandral responded, shucking his own sweater.

"Like your family?" I asked because I realized I knew nothing about them and was honestly curious what typical Asgard families were like.

He smiled a small smile, "Yes like mine."

I was about to ask him more, because suddenly I realized I wanted to know everything about him but he bowed his head, and said, "These jeans aren't conducive to sleeping, I'm going to fetch more comfortable attire for sleeping, I'll be back up shortly."

And since I didn't want to be the jerky controlling girlfriend and say 'No! You stay in those restrictive pants and tell me your life's story young man!' I just nodded and said, "Sure, I'm gonna change too."

Sparing a glance for him as he passed me to go back downstairs, I went back to my room and changed into my pajamas thinking about the little encounter we'd just had. I guess I had never quite thought about how much I don't know about him. I have no idea about his family or if he has any siblings or how long he and Thor have been buddies. Does he have a last name? or is it just 'The Dashing'? And did he deliberately not talk to me about his family? Is he just being shy or does he just think one day into the relationship isn't serious enough to talk about family? Does he think his family won't approve of me or does he… Oh god, I am such a self-absorbed ass. The bridge or connection between Asgard is probably severed and he has no idea when/if he will ever see them again. I caught a look in his eye when he talked about jeans, he isn't being rude he probably just misses them and doesn't want to talk about it. I can't believe that didn't occur to me. Gosh. Sometimes I just forget how much he gave up to stay behind and protect Earth. Note to self: be more understanding and jump to fewer conclusions.

With that resolution I sat in my room awkwardly for another minute, busying myself with my night routine like brushing my teeth and such, just to give him some space. After what I deemed to be an acceptable amount of time later I went back out to find him already changed, getting out the couch bed. I looked over at the clock for something to do and got to see it turn midnight.

"Wow. I had no idea it was that late." I muttered to myself kind of unaware I was doing it.

Fandral followed my gaze to the clock and commented, "Yes I suppose it has been a very long day."

Fandral continued making the bed and I stood there awkwardly not sure what to say or do.

When the bed was out and the pillows set, Fandral looked back up at me, "Is something wrong?"

I nervously shoved hair behind my ear, "Uh, no, I just… I'm not good at this. I don't quite know how to be a girlfriend. I dunno what is too supportive or not supportive or not. I just…"

My Westley took advantage of my fumbling and walked over to me, taking both of my hands in his, looking deep into my eyes, "We'll learn together. I, too, am unfamiliar with mortal courting practices."

I giggled, thanking every single star in the sky that I had been lucky enough to land this incredible guy, "That sounds good."

He kissed my hands, a custom of his I was growing very very fond of, as he said quietly, "The hour is late, you should get some sleep."

"You too." I agreed, and leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek, saying afterwards, "Good night."

"And to you Lady Darcy," He charmed, letting go as we both went to our separate beds.

I thought from the sense of utter tiredness I felt when I saw the clock that I would drift off to sleep the second I hit the pillow but I was wrong. It seemed as though the thrill of Fandral's touch and the act of laying down had served to wake me back up. My head swam with a thousand thoughts. There were so many questions, worries, concerns, hopes, and ideas all running in a constant rotation that I found it nearly impossible to quiet it all back down. No matter how I turned or shifted or repositioned I simply could not calm myself down enough to sleep. The clock on my nightstand seemed to taunt me taking minutes to span what felt like hours in my head. My sleep mask did not help coax me back to sleep like it had done in the past. Before long I ended up just getting so annoyed that I couldn't just fall asleep. Normally I'd listen to music but my iPod needed to charge and the plugs near my bed were all taken so it was all the way in the bathroom. After throwing off my sheets and adjusting the fan and putting the sheets back on and switching sides 5 times I figured it was a lost cause and threw off my covers with great dissatisfaction and frustration and climbed out of bed, deciding that maybe a spoon or two of peanut butter and a swig of milk was in order.

Leaving my room as quietly as possible, I was prepared to tiptoe through the living room and on downstairs but discovered that such a measure was unnecessary: the couch-bed was empty.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't surprised and a little disappointed that I didn't get to see sleeping Fandral. For some reason what people look like when they are sleeping fascinates me, it's them without walls and their guard down. But I'd have to see unguarded Fandral later. Putting aside my quest for peanut butter, I instead set out to find my missing boyfriend.

My first guess was, yes, the most obvious, but checking downstairs was the most logical, maybe he was hungry too or maybe convincing Jane to go to bed as it was now 3:30 in the morning. But upon arriving downstairs I saw this wasn't the case. Only one small lamp was on and the bottom level was deserted. Rather than continue on and get my peanut butter, I now had something better to occupy the time I wish I was sleeping. After a quick check outside, I went back in the stairway for the only option left. Pulling on the string hanging from the ceiling, the panel covering the hatch to the roof opened. Then, carefully, I stepped on some of the higher steps and pulled the metal ladder down before proceeding to climb it, opening the hatch when I got there to rise out into the cool night air.

Once on the roof I was relieved to see Fandral sitting on one of the reclining lawn chairs we kept up there. He doesn't look at me but remains leaned back against the reclined chair.

"The stars are different." He commented quietly.

I didn't reply but instead plopped down into the other chair which was positioned so that it was touching his chair, looking at the stars myself.

"I was never much for studies or mathematics or the whys or hows or technicalities but one thing I enjoyed was watching the sky. The constellations probably had proper names but I made up and found my own. There are great astronomers of Asgard who probably keep meticulous charts of the movements of the heavens in the sky but I made my own in my mind. In my rooms in the palace of Odin, I had a grand pavilion that served as my balcony and when Thor and the other gods of weather in Asgard were not creating rain, I had my bed out there under the stars. I would tell myself stories of pictures I saw up there amongst the nebulas and galaxies seen in the sky above the capital until I fell asleep. These skies, while dazzled by a great amount of stars, contain not the color and wonder of the skies of home. I know none of these stories, none of these names. It's all different."

Hearing him speak, a picture began painting in my mind of what it would be like to suddenly be in a whole 'nother world where you are without your friends, your things, your family and all you had was one person you liked and two sort of friends and all you want at the end of the night is to just see your stars but they are gone too. Imagining that I couldn't imagine how alone and isolated he felt. Without thinking twice I leaned into him, desperate to show him that I was here for him however I could.

"I'm not an expert either but I could teach you the ones I know." I said as I wrapped one arm around his arm.

"I'd like that." He says quietly, looking at me for the first time.

"Okay," I start, pointing up with my other hand, "You see those four stars that form a bit of a box, and the one that's in the same line with the top two, that is called the Big Dipper because it kind of looks like a human pan. There is a Little Dipper but it's always harder for me to find." I continued scanning the sky, then pointed once I located it, "See? There it is, it's less distinguishable but still. And over there, those three stars in a line right next to each other, that is called Orion's Belt and they form the belt as it were of a greater constellation known as Orion, the hunter, but it's a little more difficult to make out the rest. I think that bit there is his legs and there is his head and see right there is his sword."

I continued on like that for I don't know how long as I indicated every one that I could remember from my first freshman semester of astronomy. As I continued on, I felt the exhaustion of the day seep in as my body finally became tired, and I dimly became aware of growing quieter and making less sense as I wracked my mind for constellations.

"And I can't remember any more." I admitted sleepily, snuggling even closer into my Asgardian boyfriend. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. You gave me back the sky." He said quietly.

We laid there for another minute in silence as I drifted closer and closer to sleep-a-bye land. Just before I lost the battle to stay awake, I heard Fandral say close to my ear, "Thank you, Darcy."

Then I am pretty sure he kissed me on the top of the head and pulled me closer. I fell asleep with a smile on my face.

**Author's Note: Le aw. Yeah, I'm sorry it got really mushy there at the end but I don't care. Fandral is actually having some inner angst and I was trying to show that.**

**And I know that this story seems kinda fluffy because well yes I love fluff but I am actually going/trying to go somewhere with this while telling this story about these two really different people being in a relationship. I really really do love Fandarcy.**

**And I am really excited to have this chapter done because I am super excited to get to work on the next one. It will officially launch the story into more intense stuff and I just can't wait.**

**Okay much love to you all.**

**And please review people, the more reviews I get the more motivated I get.**

**Also if you have any critiques, concerns, questions or comments I am more than happy to receive them all and will address them as best as I can.**

**Much Love!**

**-Fin**


	6. Thanks for the Killjoy, MrGrumpypants!

Chapter 6: Thanks for the Killjoy, Mr. Grumpypants

**Disclaimer: I own not the characters but the plot is mine. And I seem to be one of the three writers on all of fanfiction who writes for this ship so oh well. Haha, at least you guys have something to read for it!**

**Author's Note: BOOM BAM! MLWANWG (talk about a mouthful!) is back once more!**

**I am so sorry for the prolonged absence. My personal life kind of became demanding and my muse went on vacation. I wanted to write when thor came out on dvd (I totally got it that morning) but that was the day my father had surgery and I didn't actually get to watch it all the way through for another 2 or 3 weeks. On top of that my school work got piled up, I became the lead admin of a blog on tumblr and then the book Game of Thrones kind of took over my brain and that became all I wanted to do during my free time (can't speak for the tv show but the book is phenomenal). **

**ANYWAYS! The point is I am back now and happy to be. And you can thank the lovely reviewers SK and Isilarma for reminding me why I liked writing this story so this chapter is dedicated to them for waking my muse up.**

**This also goes out to all of my other reviewers: Telulu Hunter, chatnoir1, beesting08, Sheherazade's Fable, rebel-bred, seasammy13, Fishy Rainboots, and Risetta Rose. You guys make writing this story that much more fun.**

**Okay, I ramble when I have been gone awhile and I apologize. Now you can read.**

In Which Darcy Remains Faithful and Erik is Overly Stressed.

I woke up the next morning in my own bed. Slightly confused and a little disoriented I got dressed and ready for the day, all the while wondering if I had dreamed up the stargazing experience from the night before. I was still puzzling over this mystery when I joined Fandral in the living room, looking over my shoulder back to my room with confusion clear on my face.

Fandral must have caught the look for he then said by way of explanation, "You were shivering so I brought you inside."

"Ah, that makes sense." I replied; glad to have that mystery solved.

I looked over at him with a whole new perspective. Last night was the first time he had shown any signs of homesickness. I got the feeling that he had been mostly enjoying his time here but that didn't erase the fact that he had spent the last several hundred years (at least) surrounded by luxury and friends and now suddenly he was on a complete other world. I decided from that moment on that I would try to make his stay on Earth as easy as I could. I would try to keep him entertained and be there for him when he needed me.

Oblivious to my internal monologuing, Fandral was wearing a new pair of khaki pants but still donned in one of his loose night shirts which made me sheepishly wonder if I should perhaps knock when entering from no on. Instead of saying this, I just cleared my throat, announcing before I could get anymore sidetracked, "I'm heading down now."

He smiled endearingly, picking up a fresh light green shirt, "I'll join you in a moment."

"See ya." I called over my shoulder awkwardly as I began descending the stairs.

Once down, I expected to see Jane already up and cracking but to my surprise, I was met with an empty kitchen. Curious at her absence, I entered the room properly, approaching the table where I immediately saw a folded piece of paper with my name on it.

Piqued, I picked it up and unfolded the note.

_Darcy,_

_The science department of the Albuquerque Community College has offered me use of their science lab and library for the day, so I'll be there all day doing research. Just because I'm gone doesn't mean you can just goof off, I've left some calculations and research that you should be able to complete today in a folder in the lab. __Don't just make Erik do it.__ Remember this is for your science credits and not his. Also, I know that things have been kind of different with having Fandral around but I would really like you to actually get some work done today. Only call if there is an emergency please. I'll be back sometime tonight and give you a call when I am leaving, okay?_

_ Jane_

I smiled at how like a mother hen she had become in the few months I've been working with her. True our minds were geared towards totally different things and didn't work quite the same but we had developed a close bond not even an acclaimed scientist could properly explain.

Absent mindedly I wandered over to the freezer and got out two toaster strudels, popping them in the toaster and separating the icing packets. It was then that Fandral emerged from the staircase.

"Good morning Lady Darcy." He proclaimed cheerily before looking around, "And where is the Lady Jane this morning?"

"Off researching," I said, summing up the note.

"She's awfully fond of this research isn't she?" he asked with a wide grin as he picked up an apple from the bowl on the table and proceeded to toss it from one hand to other once.

"Oh yes, it's her best friend." I joked back sarcastically getting two plates for when the strudels popped.

"What adventures await us today?" he queried, now tossing the apple back and forth higher and higher, clearly showing off.

"Well, not much. Mom's gone for the day but she's left me some homework. I'm sure we can find something for you to do." I answered trying to pretend I wasn't impressed but okay, I'll admit, I was a little bit; as a minor klutz, my only attempts at juggling basically consisted of lots of dropping and not so much catching, so I threw him a bone and said, "Cool trick."

Raising an eyebrow at me, he tossed into high into the air one last time before catching it and taking a bite out of it all while shooting me the most satisfied grin. Once he swallowed he said, "Thank you."

Then the toaster strudels popped and I went and got them out, smirking to myself at Fandral's little show.

After I explained the idea behind toaster strudels and how to eat them, breakfast passed with very little incident and just little small talk while all the while I tried to think of ways to be the best girlfriend to my otherworldly, homesick boyfriend. When we'd finished I just kind of stared at the lab area, not quite wanting to get back to work yet. The last few days had been like summer vacation and I just wasn't ready to go back to school. Looking at our empty bulletin boards with all of the research still in boxes from when the government gave it back I had a flash back from only 3 or 4 days ago, '_unless Ursa Major decided to take the day off these aren't our stars...'_

"That's it!" I exclaimed, standing up quickly and going over to the right box.

Fandral, a little bit alarmed, rose after me and followed, "What is it?"

"Your stars; I think we have some of them." I explained, sifting through the other pictures that had been up on the board when they were confiscated.

"Are you alright?" My Westley asked in a tone that questioned my sanity.

I waved him off as I continued my search, "Oh give me a sec."

I could see him back up a bit out of the corner of my eye and kind of felt bad about it but it was a little hard with a million thoughts running through my head to be as soft as I should have been. I was just so excited. I've often been told by people like Jane and my mom that I can be a little blunt sometimes but there are only so many hours in the day that I don't always remember my manners.

Flipping through the papers and photos as quickly as I could, I nearly passed it in my haste, I went back and carefully extracted it from the rest of the stack. I looked it over once to be positive it was the right image before turning it around to present to Fandral, "Viola!"

Fandral leaned closer, his brow furrowing as he studied the image, "What is it I am looking at?"

"Look closer, you'll see it." I answered, placing the print in his hands.

He clearly didn't understand yet but obliged by bringing it up to his face and studying it with great detail. After about a moment, his eyes lit up with the first hint of recognition causing him too look even closer before pulling it back and looking up at me with a face of such wonder it felt like my heart grew just by looking at him.

"These are some of my stars." He said with happy surprise, grasping for words that would fit, "How did you get this?"

"We were taking photos and observations of the storm that Thor came through in and we ended up with that. And here," I started, reaching back and taking the photo off the top of the stack and handing it to Fandral, pointing, "is your buddy Thor."

"Your human technology is completely astounding." He commented looking upon the two pictures that contained little bits of his home with happy contentment.

"You have no idea." I assured him, putting the stack back in the box it came from.

"May I keep these?" he asked tentatively, a little unsure.

"Sure, we have more copies somewhere." I replied with a smile as I found myself ogling how great his arms looked in his shirt.

He looked up at me and I made myself look away, feeling a little awkward and not used to having a boyfriend.

"Are you alright?" he asked with a grin clear in his voice though I kept myself looking off about 2 feet to his left.

"Yep, just peachy." I replied, looking about for something to change the subject when my eyes lit upon a manila folder with my name written big in sharpie on the top, "It's just time for me to get cracking is all."

With that I headed off to retrieve it.

"Ah, I see." He replied, his voice telling me that he was not buying my excuse but he would go along with it anyway.

I silently thanked him for not saying anything as I picked up the day's assignment and opened it.

"Woo wee," I breathed at seeing all of the calculations and calibrations she wanted me to run.

"Something wrong?" He queried from behind me and I found it adorable he was so concerned about me.

"Ah, no. Jane just thinks that my brain actually understands these equations while, as it happens, it doesn't." I lamented at seeing all of the numbers before me.

"I am sorry. I would help if I could." He assured me dashingly.

"I know it." I agreed, taking the folder to the table with my newly returned laptop on it, "I just have to grin and bear it, it's not gonna do itself."

Fandral who had the two photos still in one of his hands joined me at the table and patted me on the shoulder as he passed, a gesture I found extremely comforting.

While waiting for my computer to boot up I fretted about what to do to keep Fandral busy so I handed him today's newspaper and a book on astronomy.

We spent at least and hour and a half like that though it was probably closer to two hours as he read and I worked, chatting only occasionally because I knew Jane would be pissed if I didn't finish and it would take me several hours to do as it was. It was about 12:00 when Dr. Selvig came in.

"Good day Darcy, Fandral." He said by way of greeting as he went to the kitchen to get some coffee.

"Hey Erik." I called back as I typed, not really looking up at him.

"Dr. Selvig." Fandral said in a respectful manner as he looked up over the book _Reaching for the Stars and What They Can Teach Us_.

Coffee in hand, the scientist made his way over to the lab portion where we were set up, asking as he sat down on the other side of me, "And where is Jane this morning?"

"ACC (Albuquerque Community College) for research." I explained half heartedly as I double-checked a digit.

"And what are you working on?" He asked, picking up one of the sheets of pages of permutations Jane had left for me to calculate.

"Numbers and stuff." I said, so enthused I could have been hired as a clown at a kid's party, before being nice and expanding, "Jane left me some calculations to figure for an Einstein-Rosen bridge recreation. Big exciting stuff if you ask me."  
>Erik looked closer at the notes, "Do you really think she can manage it?"<p>

"Honestly," I began, taking my first good look at him since he'd come in, "I have never seen her more determined about something and with S.H.I.E.L.D. backing her, there is every chance that she could be the one to do it."

Erik assumed a slightly darker look, muttering, "So she can get back to Thor."

"That's the plan." I responded, returning to my computer.

"What if Thor is not what's best for her?" He asked, with a frown on his face.

"Well I think she should get to decide that." I pointed out fairly.

"He's brash and arrogant. Who's to say we aren't better off without him?" Erik posited in a way that made me feel like doing my work wasn't important anymore.

"Okay so maybe when we first met him he wasn't the greatest guy on the planet but he changed and learned. By the time he left he was a better person and he's probably off being that person for the good of Asgard." I defended.

"What if he's not?" Erik theorized, "What if the reason he hasn't come back yet is because he doesn't care anymore and that what he did here was all an act?"

"No. I will not believe it. He's not like that." I argued, not liking this conversation at all.

"Then how else would you explain his continued absence?" Erik persisted.

"I dunno, maybe he got into trouble and can't come back." I thought aloud, seeing Fandral put his book down on the table, leaning in to hear better but keeping silent.

"Trouble like Loki you mean." Erik surmised, putting the thought that had worried me the night before back in my head, "What if Thor lost and Loki is in command now?"

"Then I'd say we're screwed." I stated simply.

"Why?" he questioned, seeming really interested in what I had to say.

"Because the guy sent a big metal Destroyer after us that nearly killed me and dozens of harmless people here." I reminded him heatedly, rubbing my wrist almost unconsciously.

"But I don't think we know the full story." Erik said, approaching a train of thought that I did not want to go down, "We know Thor was banished, what if he was some sort of outlaw who was sent here as punishment? Maybe he and his friends broke the rules and had to be punished?"

"Thor was not an outlaw and neither am I." Fandral spoke up, clearly angry.

"How do we know? Thor said he was banished by his father. And did you not say yourself that you defied the command of the king to come here and get Thor back?" Erik pointed out.

"That may be true but you were not there and you have no idea of Asgardian politics." Fandral maintained. "We did what was best for our people."

"Bottom line," I said stepping back in, "I don't trust Loki. I don't have to meet him to know that the guy gives me bad vibes. I don't know what's going on over there but I know that Thor isn't staying away because he has a choice. If Loki is in charge I just hope he continues to leave us alone. For now, I will just take him not sending anymore beasts after us as a good sign."

Erik seemed slightly impacted by my words at least enough to not respond immediately. When he did speak it was slower and more weary, addressing Fandral first, "Forgive me, I think I over spoke. I didn't mean to imply that you or Thor was a criminal, I just think it's important that we look at this from all sides. You never know how these things will end."

Fandral nodded his acceptance and leaned back again, still looking a bit on edge but placated for now. It was then that I took a deep long look at Erik and noticed several changes in his appearance from when he arrived a week or so ago. He had dark bags under his eyes like he hadn't been sleeping, the worry lines on his face just seemed more exaggerated with his furrowed brow, his shoulders were slumped and he just seemed to have an enormous weight on him.

Embracing my blunt nature I announced my conclusion of my look-over, "God, Erik. You look terrible."

"Polite as always, Darcy." He said with a very small smile in the corner of his mouth.

"No, I'm serious," I said, "You don't look good. Are you alright?"

"It's just been a tough couple of days Darcy, what with this Thor business and S.H.I.E.L.D. recruiting me for a project." He answered running a hand through his small amount of blondish hair.

"Yikes." I concluded. "What kind of project?"

"Oh an energy source of enormous potential but I can't really say much more than that. They're very secretive these special agents." He said leaning forward.

"I bet." I replied remembering Coulson and his goons very effectively scouring the entire lab including my rooms upstairs. "Yeah, they are very intense, thorough guys, aren't they?"

"You have no idea." He agreed. "Listen, I could really stand to do some equations to take my mind off of it all. How about you and Fandral go and watch a movie or something and I could finish off the calculations for you."

"Ah, thanks but no. I gotta do these myself." I explained, though I desperately wished that it could have been that easy.

"Are you sure? Perhaps I could help you, these seem to be very advanced and complicated calculations." He said looking at one of the sheets of work.

"Oh they are but Jane told me I couldn't let you do my work again because apparently it doesn't help me learn." I said, expanding on Jane's rules while cursing them.

"But she wouldn't even know." Erik insisted.

"Yeah she will, remember I thought that last time. Apparently she won't believe I did them unless I do most of them wrong and then redo them three times." I remembered, chagrinned.

"Are you sure I can't just do them instead?" He asked again, not quite getting the hint.

"I'm sure. I really appreciate the offer but it's not worth Jane's fury if she found out." I stated, thinking on how she acted last time; it wasn't pretty.

"Very well." Erik said, finally seeming to get the message and more disappointed than perhaps he should have been but I suppose that S.H.I.E.L.D. really was hounding on him so that my complicated equations would have been a welcome distraction. With my resolution clear, Dr. Selvig stood and pushed in his chair.

"Where are you going?" I enquired.

"Well there is clearly nothing I can do here so I might as well go back to the hotel and get some sleep." He looked so dejected as he grabbed his bag and started to leave.

"I'm sorry Erik." I called with pity.

"Sure, Darcy." Erik replied noncommittally, "I'll see you around."

"Do you want me to call when Jane's heading back?" I queried as he reached the door.

"No, dear, I'll see you soon enough." He said a little strangely.

"Good day Dr. Selvig." Fandral called in farewell.

Erik raised a hand in recognition and walked out the door, to cross the street.

I watched him go for a bit, my head swirling again and I found myself resenting S.H.I.E.L.D. Yes, I liked their toys and I preferred to be working with them to them taking my iPod but I couldn't help but think down on them for their effect on Erik. He was an older man and clearly couldn't handle all-nighters the same as young people like Jane could. And the wear was clearly starting to show. While Erik and I never exactly bonded, we normally got along just fine and I hated that we fought today. He was just saying things that made me so mad.

Before I could brood more over our conversation I was taken out of my thoughts by Fandral reaching across the table and brushing some hair out of my face, caressing my cheek as he did so. I closed my eyes to the sensation and wanted nothing more than to just live in that blissful moment. But it did end with Fandral saying, "How would you like to go somewhere with me?"

"Now?" I asked, my eyes opening, eager and hesitant all at the same time. I wanted to get away so bad but I had to finish my work.

"No, tonight or tomorrow perhaps." He clarified, looking at me with such adoration I felt completely at peace.

"That sounds heavenly." I answered.

"Good." He smiled, standing up.

"And where are you going?" I inquired, not wanting him to go.

"I'm going to try out using the phone, I need to make some plans." He explained with a devilish grin.

"Okay, but don't be gone too long." I responded, pleased to see him taking the initiative not only with technology I was teaching him to use but with our relationship as well.

"I won't." He replied, "Now, get back to work, I'll be back shortly."

"You better!" I insisted as he headed up the stairs chuckling at me.

Content and much more at ease, I rolled my neck and got back to the research while secretly wondering what sort of plans my Norse boyfriend had in mind.

**Author's Note: TADAA!**

**Okay, now to clarify that was not the chapter I was talking about being excited about writing. I started to write that one when I realized that I needed this scene in between. The story wasn't as cohesive before I wrote this chapter.**

**Hopefully this chapter has done it's job into providing some insight so you won't be confused later.**

**Also I really wanted to develop Darcy and Fandral some more because that is kind of the point. Haha.**

**Okay, again I am sorry for being gone so long but the reviews brought me back eventually so you know what that means, the more reviews I get the more inspired I get which means that you all get more story sooner rather than later.**

…**that is if you guys still want the story. I realize it's been about 5 months since the first story and you guys might not want anymore but I still love these two and hope I can keep writing.**

**Now show me the love and review!**

**-Fin**


	7. Let's Take Back the Sky, You and I

Chapter 7: In Which Darcy gets surprised and things don't go as planned.

**Author's Note: I'm BACK PEOPLE! BAM!**

**My life and school schedule is insane and my muse is a flighty little freak so I am sorry for taking so long.**

**This chapter was a toughie to write but I just love it. It also accidentally ended up being 10 pages long. Whoops. Not that you guys mind, right?**

**This chapter goes out to cloudlake, chatnoir1, JediPrincess-Knight, Seasammy13, beesting08, Anonymous, WolfenIvy, Isilmara, Knightrunner, ofthewood, Cleopatra Antoinette, and Gaby G, with a special shout out to Phoenix Aurorean for going through and reviewing every published chapter, that was sweet and collective2220 for her rabid enthusiasm. To all my new favoriters and subscribers, thank you all so much I am so glad to have you.**

**Onward to the date!**

My mystery date with Fandral actually didn't take place until the next night because I didn't finish my homework until around 8 o'clock and at that time I was too tired to think about doing much more than eating and showing some TV to Fandral. (He found Hercules most intriguing and views him as a bit of a brother-in-arms much to my amusement.) And Jane didn't return until around midnight and I took it upon myself to make sure she ate because she more often than not just forgets.

The whole next day I was a bundle of excitement for the night's activity. This, I am sure drove Jane crazy because she had to repeat herself a dozen times before actually having to send Fandral upstairs because I just kept looking at him and giggling when he made suggestive faces at me. I just couldn't help myself around him. That and I was extremely anxious to see what his idea of a mortal date was. I didn't even know that the idea of an Asgardian date was. Did they even date or did they just ride horses and drink ale and go and around swaggering in armor? I highly doubted it but I couldn't get the image out of my mind and that really didn't help me to focus.

The day was mostly uneventful. Erik did not make an appearance which I, after our little spat yesterday, was grateful for. Jane explained that S.H.I.E.L.D. had required use of him for the day but that he planned to stop by later in the evening. One thing that made me want to burst out of curiosity was when at about 1 pm Fandral went out with Jane for maybe a little more than two and a half hours and came back with nothing new in hand or anything. Of course when I asked them what it was or why I had to stay behind and do more research they both refused to tell. If I wasn't so excited I probably would have been mad at being kept in the dark.

At about 5:30 Jane finally called it a day and the three of us had a dinner of a frozen pizza, a salad and this amazing cheesy garlic bread that I just can't resist. And yes, I was still getting a kick out of introducing new foods to my boyfriend who was used to feasts for every meal. To my satisfaction, he was still enjoying his trips down the rabbit hole of modern food. He didn't have much interest in the salad but he did have about half of the pizza himself. After dinner, Jane gathered up some work and star charts and retreated to her trailer saying that we knew where to find her if we needed her.

Pretty much as soon as Jane had left the building I turned to Fandral and asked eagerly, "So can we go yet?"

Fandral laughed his deep throaty laugh that belonged in some sort of ancient drinking hall instead of our mundane converted kitchen/lab, "Not yet, Lady Darcy. We have some time left before we are to leave."

"Okey dokey…" I replied a little disappointed and unsure of what I was to do next, "…well how long? Am I even dressed right? Are we going out in public or just to Jane's trailer? What?"

I stopped because Fandral had started laughing again. I shot him a mock look of disapproval until he stopped and caught his breath before saying, "Patience Darcy. We shall leave soon. As for your attire, what you are wearing is perfectly adequate for tonight."

I looked down at my outfit to see what I could ascertain about the evening from the dress code. It was decent enough to wear out but comfy enough for me to wear it around the lab. It was still fairly casual with a deep green light long-sleeved undershirt, dark jeans rolled up above the ankle like Capri's and my favorite brown sweater. And while that outfit ruled out things like fancy restaurant, the opera or a ball it still left the door wide open for a number of possibilities and that frustrated me to no end.

Stymied and unsure of what to do if we weren't leaving yet, I asked, "So what do we do until then?"

He smiled at me and said, "I have a thing or two left to do to prepare, if you would wait upstairs I'll let you know when we are ready to embark."

In that smile I could tell he knew how anxious I was to start and was very amused at my excitement. I shot him a face before giving up, "Fine, come get me when you are done with the secrets. Just please don't wait too long."

"I won't." He assured me in his typical gentleman smile.

With that I turned around and went up the stairs, careful to shut the doors behind me gently so he wouldn't think I was mad at him. Once upstairs I looked around the room because I had no idea what to do to pass the time.

I probably spent about 3 minutes just standing in the doorway resisting the urge to just camp out at the window in hopes of catching a glimpse of what he was up to. In the end my better senses won out as I kind of didn't wanna ruin his surprise; it would be more special that way.

So instead I sat down tentatively on the couch and tried to decide from there. My current book sat tempting on the end table but I knew I didn't have the sense of mind to be able to concentrate on it properly so I discarded that idea. Also, by the same reasoning, I knew I was too hyped to be able to follow a movie or TV show. So instead I just picked up the old celebrity gossip magazines off of the coffee table and flipped through them absentmindedly. I may not have absorbed anything from them but it kept me distracted enough so that I didn't just end up pacing the small living area. After what seemed like two hours but was probably only twenty to thirty minutes of me looking up at the door with the slightest sound, Fandral finally came up. He had a big grin on his face and an air of excitement about him that just made me grin back.

"You ready?" he asked, heading to his closet and getting out a nice worn brown jacket we got from Thelma's that he looked like a dream in.

"To be honest, I've been ready all day." I admitted with a grin as I stood up.

"Then let us be off." He said with an air of adventure as he slung the jacket around his shoulders.

"Sounds good." I said, grabbing my purse and slipping on my shoes.

He stood by the door and extended his arm courteously when I met him there, asking, "Shall we?"

Fighting the urge to giggle like an idiot at his chivalry I took it and in a rare burst of lady-like talk, declared, "We shall."

Arm in arm, we went down the stairs and crossed the kitchen, him leading us out the door. He let go to get ahead of me and open the door. I must admit, while I was all about girl power, I hadn't been spoiled like this in awhile and it was nice. Especially considering my last ex-boyfriend's idea of a romantic evening was playing Halo, ordering pizza, and making me pay for it. But Fandral was a chivalrous gentleman, and if he wasn't careful, I could get used to this.

Once I was through he let the door close and took my hand. From there he led me not into town like I presumed he would, but around the side of the old car shop/dealership towards where Jane's trailers and our cars were parked.

As we got closer, Jane opened the door and for a moment I was worried she was coming with us but she stayed in the doorway and waved, calling, "You guys have fun! If you need anything, just call me."

"We will." Fandral assured, leading us to my car. I was a little surprised when he led me around to the passenger side and let me in considering the fact that he couldn't drive, but I got in all the same, not knowing what would happen next. To my shock, he went around the front of my Beatle and plopped into the driver's seat, extracting Jane's spare key to my car out of his pocket and putting it in the ignition. He turned it experimentally and put the car into reverse as the car hummed to life.

"You can drive?" I questioned, pleasant surprise clear on my face as I looked at him.

He gave me charming smile and replied, "Well enough, I had Jane teach me this afternoon."

I chuckled, "I am certainly surprised Mr. Fandral."

"Good." He said winking devilishly as he pulled out of the parking lot and onto the road that led out of town in the direction of the bifrost site.

I could tell we weren't exactly going back to the place where Thor and his friends disappeared because that trek had been over unpaved ground in Jane's heavy duty van and we were on a road. We were still heading out into the desert and away from any sort of civilization I knew. It was very exciting not knowing where we were going but that being said I had no idea how long it'd take for us to get there.

As a classic fidgeter, it was impossible to endure the ride in stillness so I instead bounced nervously, tapping my fingers against the armrest and just looking at everything I could see in the growing darkness. Fandral chuckled at me but said nothing, knowing that I wouldn't get easy until we got to our destination.

A couple minutes drive later and I had to casually reach over and turn on the headlights for him as Jane clearly forgot to mention the lack of visibility while driving at night. Fandral nodded in appreciation as we kept on. Four minutes later he pulled off the road and turned off the engine and announced, "We're here."

I peered out into the growing darkness looking for any silhouette that might indicate what made this our destination but I saw nothing but the dark and the desert. I wanted to turn and ask if he was sure but I saw he was already getting out of the car and since he was acting like he knew what he was doing, instead of demanding to know why he took me into the desert, I just got out for lack of anything better to do. Upon exiting the vehicle I saw no more signs of civilization or set up that would tell me what we were there for. If Fandral was any of my other exes, I would probably start worrying that he had taken me out there to kill me and hide the body. But that wasn't Fandral and besides he's probably told Jane where we were going so she'd notice if I didn't come back. My mind was a whirl of ideas and thoughts that each seemed more unlikely than the next.

I was so busy speculating that I hadn't noticed Fandral get a bag and a flashlight out of the trunk until I turned around and saw him sitting on a large blanket spread out about 10 feet behind the car with a couple of pillows and the large mystery bag behind him.

"Care to join me?" He asked extending a hand in my direction.

"Heck yes." I exclaimed, not needing a second invitation as I hurried to join him, taking his proffered hand and asking as soon as I had seated, "So what are we going to do tonight?"

"Well," he began somewhat nervously, "as you are aware, I'm not of this world and as such, am unfamiliar with typical activities of mortals who are courting, so I may not get a lot of things right. It is of my understanding, however, that these activities should be enjoyable affairs that have a special meaning to both involved."

I nodded, "Sounds about right so far."

"Good." He responded, "because I realize that we are very different and don't know all that much about each other yet so I am still unsure of what common ground we share but then I remembered the other night. You told me that you had had an interest in astronomy in your learning when you told me the names you remembered of the stars while I have long found connection amongst the heavens above and I realized that the stars at least was our common ground. Now, while you gave me the sky of your world and I hold what you told me very close, I realized why it still felt so alien and different from my own back home."

He paused, looking at me as if for confirmation to go on. He had begun getting closer and closer as he spoke, probably unconsciously, but I was drawn in. I was a sucker for a guy who could speak his mind and Fandral was a beautifully eloquent speaker. I was so touched by his attempts at being normal by Earth's standards even though we were far from it. The fact that he had put so much thought into what we shared and how best to spend an evening together was just so sweet. Realizing he was waiting for a sign, I nodded my assent for him to continue.

He took in a deep breath and resumed, "you see, with the constellations back home, what I connected to so much was that I named and found them all myself. I never knew their proper names and stories, I forged them all myself for years until I knew them as well as each of my friends. So what I was hoping for this evening was that, together, we could find new shapes and tell new stories all on our own. Would you like that?"

To tell the truth, that was the absolute sweetest and romantic thing anyone had ever asked of me. I locked eyes with him and said as seriously as I could, "I would really love that."

The returning smile he gave was one of such love and contentment that I just couldn't help but lean my head on his shoulder in response as I grabbed his arm and looked up at the sky, perfectly at peace, "So where do we begin?"

He rested his chin on top of my head as he adjusted to look up above us, "Where ever you like, the whole sky is ours."

I smirked big in response, "I really like that idea."

"I do too." He agreed as we both look about for pictures in the sky.

Trying not to shift too much so as to dislodge me, Fandral reached behind with his free hand to position the pillows where our heads would land before easing both of us down so that we could have a better vantage of the canvas above us. Laying down, he wriggled his arm out from my grasp and put it under my neck, reaching the other hand over to hold my hand on top of us.

"You see any good ones?" I asked quietly, so comfortable and content I could die right there and be happy.

"Hmmm…" he began, searching about for a new constellation, "how about those?"

I unwillingly let go of his hand so that he could point to a cluster of five to his left.

"What do you see?" I inquired, not seeing anything too spectacular in the grouping.

"It is the great All-father's eye patch." He explained.

"the All-father's eye patch?" I asked not understanding the reference.

He chuckled, "Silly me, the All-father is the King Odin of Asgard and Thor's father. It is said that he lost his eye in battle with the Jotuns though the vulvas and the wise-women whisper that he gave his eye to Mimir in exchange for the knowledge of his doom."

"Kind of like the Cyclopes in Krull." I commented to myself.

It was his turn to be confused. He queried, "Krull?"

"Oh, sorry. It was an old sci-fi movie I watched when I was little. There was a race of Cyclopes who only had one eye because they gave up the other to see the future but it really only showed them how they died. It was really sad because, while I don't remember much, I remembered that the one in the movie could have stayed behind and lived but he went and ended up dying to save the main characters. I was very little when I saw it. It made me cry." I found myself blabbing.

"Yes, yes I suppose the stories of Odin's eye were much like your childhood Cyclopes." He chuckled quietly, and I snuggled in closer, "Do you see any?"

I peered up, frustrated, "Well, yeah. But all of mine are silly."

"I'd like to hear them still." Fandral said into my hair.

"Okay then," I began, unsure, before pointing up right above our heads, tracing my shape, "Well you see those? Um…it looks like a piece of pie to me."

Fandral laughed, "Yes I see it. What sort of pie do you think it is?"

A small smile formed on my mouth in response to him actually going along with it instead of calling it stupid, "Hmmm…I think starberry."

He laughed happily, "Starberry pie it is then."

"What else do you see?" I asked as I searched for my next constellation.

"Well," he started, a little uncertain, extending his hand towards our feet, "It's not exact, but those do bear a resemblance to Sif's shield when Volstagg sat on it after drinking too much."

"Ha! I can see it." I said as I couldn't help but laugh out loud, not expecting that. "And I can see The Great Cuddly Teddy Bear."

As I said this, I leaned in closer so that our eyes were close enough to see from the same basic angle and outlined the rudimentary shape of the teddy bear.

"What exactly is a teddy bear?" he asked with a smile in his voice.

My eyes widened at the gap in his knowledge but didn't voice my surprise and simple explained, "Oh, a teddy bear is a stuffed animal in the shape of a bear that humans often have as children."

"Did you have one?" he asked me quietly.

"Still do." I confessed, "Captain Kirby went with me on all of my adventures."

"No doubt you went on many." He commented.

"Oh you have no idea. Course I exasperated my parents to no end, hiding in the grocery store and what not." My smile faded slightly as I thought about my family and the bad note I'd ended things on which prompted me to quickly search for a new topic with happier thoughts. "You got any more?"

"I think so." He said, casting about the sky for new stories, "Ah, there. That looks like Mjolnir with a slightly curved handle."

"Good old Mew Mew." I remarked with a smirk, realizing it was my turn again, I indicated stars on my right, "And there is the Happy Teacup."

Fandral squinted beside me, "Where?"

"Right there." I maintained, tracing the shape for him as best I could.

"I'm afraid I don't see it." He muttered craning his neck for a better view.

"There. Right there. That's the wonky handle and there is cup looking part and in the middle there is a bit of a smile." I told him as I tried best to point so he could see which ones I was talking about.

"Oh, you mean the Mighty Ale Mug." He finally said with realization in his voice.

"Mighty Ale Mug? Heck no. That is a Happy Teacup." I maintained with a smile in my voice so he'd know I wasn't really mad.

"Whatever you say, Lady Darcy." He seceded with a kiss to the top of my head.

"Uh huh. Sure." I mumbled, reaching underneath my head to grab my pillow as I sat up and swiftly hit him with it.

He gasped in shock, before responding quickly with a blow from his own pillow. Pillow fight started, I smacked him in the face with my chosen weapon. He propped himself up on his elbows despite my best hits and proceeded to give me a good whack in the face. Laughing, I happily reciprocated with a hit of my own. He dodged and landed a blow to my stomach. I raised my pillow to return the favor when he suddenly pounced, seizing my pillow and throwing it behind him. While we both laughed, he gently knocked me down so that I was laying with him hovering above me, him propped on his elbow as he moved my mussed hair out from in front of my glasses. Our laughter quieted as he looked into my eyes mere inches away; a completely different and more intimate atmosphere settled over us.

A tingle ran up my spine from the way he gazed at me. I could tell that our relationship had reached a turning point and that if we crossed this bridge, whatever we had would change. And in that moment, I was ready to run right across if it meant being closer to my Westley. I couldn't be sure, but I think Fandral could sense it too. He looked at me then, different from how he had looked at me any time prior, a question in his beautiful blue gaze. The tension driving me mad, I didn't say anything but instead reached up and pulled him into a kiss.

If all of our kisses before then had been fire then this one was like a supernova. My hands tangled in his hair as I sought to bring him closer as I kissed him hungrily. He seemed to share my enthusiasm as he reciprocated fully. My senses were alight with passion as our tongues danced and his own hand wrapped around my neck to deepen the kiss. Our breathing labored, we were forced to come back up for air. Untangling his hand from my hair, Fandral rolled off to lie beside me.

With no sound but our labored breathing, I stared up at the sky, trying to catch my breath as the constellations we named sprang into immediate focus before my eyes. Still having trouble breathing, I sat up in the hopes that the change in position would make it easier for air to make it to my lungs. Without saying a word, he joined me in the upright position. I vaguely noticed that his breathing had leveled out and I chalked it up to advanced Asgardian resilience. While I finally managed to slow my breathing down so that I didn't have to have my mouth open, my heart was still going about a million miles an hour. I honestly couldn't remember the last time it had gotten that intense between me and one of my boyfriends. That's not to say I never made out with them, but there was something about tonight, the privacy of the desert, the intimacy of the stars and the way he looked at me was just so completely different from exchanging saliva in the car with a frat boy parked outside a Taco Bell.

And in that moment, with everything quiet and still with out shoulders leaning against each other, I felt completely at peace.

"Well aren't we cozy?" A voice like a winter chill spoke from behind us, completely shattering the moment.

Fandral whirled beside me and was standing before I could even turn to look at the intruder. At such a quick reaction, I decided to follow suit and rose to my feet to stand to the side of and slightly behind Fandral who stood stiff and tensed.

On first glance I barely made out the shape of a man about fifteen feet away. His skin was pale and stood out against the darkness and I got the impression of a slender but powerful looking form clad in greenish, black and gold armor of some type.

"What do you want Loki?" my own personal Norse Warrior God asked from beside me skipping all attempts at pleasantries.

Picking up on the name, I wracked my brains for any reference to such a person and dimly recalled a conversation I'd had with Fandral back when Thor was approaching the big metal death machine:

"_But I don't get it," I'd said, "why is Lucky sending a killing machine after his brother?"_

"_Loki is a cunning and clever man. He and his brother have a close bond but Loki has always been envious of Thor's power and influence." The Dashing Warrior told me, probably only skimming the surface of Thor's family history, "With All Father out of commission, he is using the opportunity to rid himself of his biggest competition. Loki knows that if Thor returns to Asgard, the throne will never be his."_

Not that I had exactly needed a flashback to tell me that the man before us was bad news but it gave me a little context into guessing what he was doing here.

"So rude." The God of Mischief chided, "Tell me Fandral, when did our friendship end?"

Fandral looked on Loki with such distrust and anger as he spat out an answer, "When you set Asgard's fiercest warrior upon your own brother regardless of the innocents you put in danger."

"That's the problem with you and your dear Thor," the dark god pointed out, "You aren't willing to get your hands dirty to do what is necessary."

Fandral showed true anger for the first time since I'd known him as he pulled his brows furrowed as he repeated himself slowly, "What do you want Loki?"

"It's very simple actually," He said very calmly despite the fire in his eyes, "I want to return to Asgard and you are in the way."

That I didn't get at all, and Fandral obviously didn't either as his brow furrowed in a look of confusion that I am sure rivaled my own.

"How is that? Our connection is severed just as surely as your own." The Norse Robin Hood Look-alike pointed out.

"The how doesn't matter. You and your little human, however," Loki replied icily, as he threw a harsh look at me, cutting off that line of conversation swiftly, "Are only interfering and need to be removed."

I couldn't help but shudder at the flat, cold way he said it, as if we were simply variables in an equation that could be taken out with no harm involved. Looking closer at the man who spoke so menacing from the shadows my eyes were adjusting to, I saw he was not as whole and clean as I had first thought. His jet black hair was mussed and his face marred by some unfortunate encounter, but it was his eyes I couldn't look away from. The rest of his face appeared put together and calculating but his eyes were alive with emotion. They screamed agony, anger, betrayal, jealousy and deep overwhelming pain. Whatever he used to be, something about him had become unhinged and I got the impression that this dark Loki in the shadows was no longer the god who grew up beside Thor and Fandral and the others. Whatever part of him that that had been had since been consumed by his own inner pain and his good judgment and reason had been banished far away.

I looked away as quick as I could. I felt that if I stared into those pits for long I would be lost in the emotions that swirled within them.

I shook myself to come back to the present and the threat that loomed with Loki's every word.

"Loki, you don't have to do this." Fandral tried to appeal to him, but from one look in the other's tormented blue orbs I could tell that all such hopes were futile.

"That is where you are wrong." He uttered very simply before flashing green and disappearing.

Before I could make any attempts to figure out what had just happened I was suddenly grabbed from behind, one strong hand held my neck while the other gripped my left wrist behind my back causing me to gasp. Though I had no idea how he got to me so quickly, I had no doubt in my mind that it was Loki who held me so. Fandral spun very quickly in response to my noise of alarm and held out both arms in both a wary gesture and battle ready posture.

"Why do you and Thor love the humans as you do when they are so fragile?" Loki taunted as he asked near my right ear.

"Because we fight back." I grunted angrily, grabbing my taser from my right hand pocket with my free hand and positioned it at his throat, pulling the trigger.

I might as well have hit him with a Nerf gun for all the good it did me. Sure, he was taken by surprise and twitched slightly at the shock but I should've guessed, being from another realm and all that he'd be made of tougher stuff than humans.

"That was a mistake." He said, his voice laced with deep annoyance and anger. He then removed his hand from my neck to wrench the weapon from my grasp and throw it into the desert to never be seen again. He next proceeded to grab hold of my now empty hand and twitched his slender fingers, a motion that was met with a cracking sound and a rush of immense pain in the offending extremity. He let go of both of my arms but quickly wrapped one arm across my chest, holding me in a vice so tight I couldn't wiggle an inch.

"Try anything else I break your neck." He warned forebodingly in my ear.

"Let her go!" Fandral yelled, a look of pain in his eyes as watched me awkwardly cradle my broken hand to my chest.

"No." Loki insisted. "You and your friends turned your back on me and betrayed me to Thor. Now you and your pet must pay for getting in my way."

Before Fandral could make anymore attempts to talk his former friend out of his scheme, I felt the air around us change. The temperature of the New Mexican night seemed to drop about 20 degrees in an instant and I vaguely noticed that the hand of Loki's arm that was holding me was now blue.

Sooner than I had time to process these changes, Loki's left hand came up and gripped my neck, his long fingers splayed across my cheek in doing so. At the contact, a freezing chill spread across my body from where he touched me. My teeth began to chatter and I couldn't feel my hands, feet or face within a minute.

But the cold didn't stop.

Some distant part of my brain noted that I'd been released from the vice around my shoulders but as the bitterly cold hand continued to channel pure winter into my system, the rest of me couldn't remember what importance that held. My systems shutting down in an act of self preservation, my world went black amidst a strange falling sensation and a strange growling sound.

The moment Loki's bare Frost Giant hand found Darcy's face, a freezing sensation took over, draining all the warmth from her body. Fandral was forced to watch as her skin grew paler and paler, taking on a bluish hue radiating out from the point where their skin touched. But it was the sight of wonderful, carefree Darcy falling to the ground, her eye pieces coming dislodged from their perch on her nose and ears that was more than Fandral could take. Without thinking, he charged, an inhuman growl escaping his throat.

Seeing Fandral coming, Loki immediately released his hostage, allowing her to drop unceremoniously to the ground, as he jumped back in a defensive position against his oncoming foe. His sword abandoned on the coffee table upstairs at the lab, the Asgardian lunged with his arms out, seeking to strangle the one who'd just paralyzed Darcy.

Loki, cold and calculating as opposed to being blinded by emotion as his opponent was, was able to deftly dodge the attack. At the miss, Fandral wheeled around just in time to receive a blow from an icy missile in his shoulder. With a grunt, he tore it from where it had lodged and made for Loki again, his fist primed for a punch to the jaw. This, too, Loki avoided with ease and proceeded to take advantage of Fandral's off balanced state to grab his exposed arm and twist it behind his back with his Jotun strength. Fandral groaned in pain but, unprepared to give in, reached behind him and grazed the side of his foe's face with the sharp point of the icicle that had just been used against him.

Loki released at the blow, touching the scratch on the side of his face with a look of surprise. Fandral took advantage of the freedom and stretched his sore and frostbitten arm, grinning at his success in wounding Loki as he prepared his next attack.

"You're tougher than I thought." Loki noted with surprise in his voice as his hand came away bloody, shifting back to his Asgardian visage as he did so.

"You have no idea." Fandral challenged, the familiar adrenaline of battle rushing through his veins as he sized up Loki for his weak spot.

"Don't get carried away." Loki scolded with a look of disdain on his narrow face, "This round goes to you. By all means, nurse your injuries, save your precious mortal, but this is far from being concluded."

Without waiting for a response, the Frost Giant faded inexplicably.

Fandral had no idea how Loki had done so or how he had even gotten to Midgard, but at that moment he didn't care. Careful of his injured shoulder, Fandral crouched by Darcy's side, thankful at least that she had landed on the blanket and pillows as opposed to some boulder or rock that would have cracked open her skull. Brushing her hair out of her face, Fandral placed a shaking hand to cup her neck where Loki had touched her. The skin was as cold as ice and more bright blue there than anywhere else but faintly, beneath the surface, he could still feel a slow but steady pulse. Thanking Odin and whatever other figure that might have played a hand in saving her life, Fandral breathed out a sigh of relief. Unconscious and freezing she might be but she was alive and that was more than he'd allowed himself to hope when he saw her fall.

Her glasses lay beside her, tangled in her long brown locks and he found, looking upon her, that while not looking worse for it, she did look distinctly different without the eyewear he had found so strange when he first met her. Having been explained that she would need them when she awoke, he carefully folded them and placed them in his pocket.

While Fandral had no idea what mortals did for medical care, he figured, fragile as they were, they must have some sort of healing rooms just like on Asgard. Knowing that all hopes in keeping Darcy alive lay in getting her warm and tended to immediately, Fandral rose quickly and opened the car door of the back seat and got out an extra blanket from the trunk. Returning to Darcy, he wrapped her in the new blanket and scooped her up with the blanket she lay on as best as he could with his injured arm, and carried her to the car despite the strain and pull on his sore muscles. Once she was safely stowed in a laying down position across the seats, Fandral hastily threw everything else into the drunk before assuming the driver's seat. Thankful that he'd thought to be taught how to drive, Fandral turned on the car and raced back to town as quick as he could, worried out of his mind the whole while about the well-being of his precious passenger.

**By the way, the secondary subtitle for this was Chapter 7: In Which Loki shows up and shit hits the fan.**

**Author's Note: HOW YOU LIKE THAT TWIST? OOOOH!**

**Hee hee, I've been looking forward to the chance to write Loki for awhile. Ever since chatnoir1 suggested it back in the reviews for Well Aren't You the Freakiest Thing? I've been hoping to work this into the story and lo and behold, here we go, though, I pretty positive this is not entirely what she meant, I don't care, this was a lot more dramatic and interesting to me. I'm sure some of you have been seeing this coming but I don't care. I still really enjoyed writing this. I was super nervous about writing him and really hope I got him alright, I tried very hard.**

**Ha. Let it just be stated that this chapter was exceedingly difficult to write. The more intimate moments were a challenge but a wonderful one at that. Overall, though nervous it made me while writing that and the drama there at the end, it is probably one of my favorite chapters of the story by far. I fluffing love the two of them and this is one of my favorite stories to write.**

**Okay, hopefully I'll be able to resolve this cliffhanger soon. Hee hee.**

**Until then, thank you all for the wonderful response. You guys rock.**

**Fin out.**

**P.S. Reviews makes my muse less inclined to go off and write other stories like the 4 Once Upon A Time fics it did since the last chapter of this. So if you want more sooner rather than later, REVIEW!**


	8. Hello Doctor Kick Ass

**Disclaimer: I might be married to Jeremy Renner and engaged to Josh Dallas in my head but I don't actually own anything in this story besides the doctors. But I love my doctors.**

**Author's Note: WOOOOOO! I AM BACK! I am so sorry I took so long to leave you on that cliff hanger but I was busy and I also got addicted to writing my OUAT Snow/Charming story. But enough about that.**

**I still love you guys and it was my Avengers excitement that got me back to this story and reading fics for that. Which is funny since neither Darcy or Fandral is in the movie but I really don't care. I am too excited.**

**Anyway, this chapter goes out to**: **Jhaernyl****, ****Isilarma****, ****Seasammy13****, ****collective2220****, ****Phoenix Aurorean****, ****beesting08****, ****Cleopatra Antoinette****, ****chatnoir1****, ****Verity Kindle****, ****bunnychica9****, ****Leighta Greenleaf****, ****Feathersblue17****, ****Verity Kindle****, Krysti, ****SelenesLegacy****, and ****CapriceAnn Hedican-Kocur**

**You are all amazing for sticking with me for so long.**

**And as a catch up, Loki showed up in the last chapter and attacked Fandral and Darcy on their date.**

**And away we go:**

Racing faster than was probably safe back to the lab, Fandral employed the use of the handy wheel trumpet as soon as he was in sight of the old car dealership. It had the desired effect as Jane came quickly out of her trailer.

Only bothering to park the car, Fandral jumped out to meet her.

"What happened?" Jane was asking, looking around for Darcy in growing alarm.

"Loki." He replied gravely, leading her to the backseat, "She's alive but he froze her. She needs attention, where is the nearest healing room?"

"There's a hospital ten minutes down the road." Jane answered quickly, breezing past his strange Asgardian ways in her state of distress, "I'll drive."

With that she ran and grabbed her purse from the trailer while Fandral assumed the passenger seat, keys still in the ignition.

Once in she drove the car out of town at an erratic rate. When they were a certain distance away she seemed to remember something which caused her to dig blindly through her purse to find her phone. Once it was finally in hand, she pressed a number on her speed dial and held the phone to her ear.

She waited for a few seconds, putting the phone on speakerphone and handing it to Fandral to hold out for her as ringing filled the air.

On the second ring a curt man's voice picked up, "Agent Coulson."

"Coulson!" she exclaimed, trying desperately to remain calm and professional though all she felt like doing was screaming.

"Dr. Foster?" the man on the other end asked, picking up that something was wrong.

She took a deep breath and focused like she was explaining a scientific theory, stating only the facts and leaving her emotions out of it, "You told me to call you first if there were any incidents."

"What happened?" he questioned with his emergency-mode voice on.

"Loki." She responded with the only info she knew, "I'm not sure because I wasn't there but Darcy is hurt." Jane then looked at the awkward angle of Fandral's other arm and the wounds he'd sustained before adding, "and I think Fandral is too."

"Where are you now?" Coulson asked in his best business-like tone.

"We've just left Puente Antiguo and are headed to the hospital." She informed him as levelly as she could manage.

"Good. We'll have a team meet you there shortly. Until then, tell the doctor's you need an attending and that it is a Code Blue Sigma. Don't tell anyone else what happened. This is classified and we need to keep this as contained as possible. Can Fandral wait for a doctor with clearance to look at his injuries?"

Jane understood, she didn't know much about it but she knew that Asgardians in their normal forms had a completely different physiology and it would be best if his physical buildup was not exposed to the public. She looked at him, with eyes still wide from everything that was happening with a question in her gaze. He nodded once to let her know he could as his only concern was Darcy.

She understood and told the SHIELD Agent quickly, "Yeah, he can wait."

"Good, we'll be there soon." Coulson informed her before reflecting that maybe he'd come off as too methodical and added as an after thought, "You're doing very well Dr. Foster, just hang in there. This will all be over soon."

"Thank you." Jane managed to croak before Coulson sighed and hung up the phone.

She drove quickly on in silence for a few minutes as Fandral looked back at Darcy frequently to see she was still out cold. He mused that his companions back on Asgard would probably be astounded at him managing to keep his mouth shut for so long but, for once, there wasn't anything to say. Talking about it wasn't going to help Darcy and it wouldn't make him feel any better either so he just suffered in silence.

"Oh crap!" Jane suddenly exclaimed, causing Fandral to jump and face forward again, expecting to see Loki in the road.

"What? What is it?" He asked, looking about frantically, seeing nothing and cursing himself for forgetting to grab his sword while he was at the lab.

"Sorry." She breathed quickly before explaining, "I just remembered Erik. He said he'd be back later tonight and I was just thinking that we'd probably be gone all night and he'd have no idea why 'cause I didn't leave a note or anything."

Jane knew she was babbling but her nerves were running so high that she just could not make herself stop talking but Fandral was kind enough to listen and not tell her to shut the hell up.

Focusing on the next task she instructed, "Okay, take the phone and press the green button and hold the number 3."

He did as she requested and handed it to her as she opted to take it off speakerphone this time. This pause was longer than the one for the Son of Coul but the doctor must have eventually picked up for Jane then said, "Erik, where are you?"

After listening to his answer somewhat impatiently she said briskly, "No, I'm not mad but Darcy's been hurt. We're going to the hospital. Okay? Yeah, Coulson is coming. Okay. See you there."

Jane hung up then and threw her phone into her purse where it sat by Fandral's feet.

"He fell asleep at the SHIELD lab," She said as if she couldn't imagine doing something so normal right then before continuing, "he said he'll meet us tomorrow morning as he's still several hours away."

Fandral nodded again, feeling as though he'd been doing that a lot but he understood that while it wasn't strictly necessary for her to be telling him these things she got some small comfort from talking and so he let it be.

Before he could conjure up any sort of awkward small talk response to help her, the large shape of the bright hospital came into view as they rounded a dune.

"Finally." Jane breathed as she drove straight for the Emergency Room entrance.

The next few minutes were a flurry of activity as soon as Fandral entered the Emergency Room carrying the frozen Darcy as best as he could while Jane went and parked the car.

At first the various members of the medical staff busied themselves with getting Darcy in a bed, checking her vitals and trying to assess her condition. But it wasn't too long before they turned to Fandral for details and based on what the Son of Coul had told the Lady Jane, he wasn't sure what to say. He was too unfamiliar with Earth customs and therefore had no idea what would be deemed offensive or not. And he found himself missing Darcy and her strange explanations as his unofficial guide to Midgard which didn't really help anything. Fortunately, Jane showed up then with a collected air of authority and calm that he'd often seen before in Sif before a battle and had always admired.

Though he knew that she was worried and concerned for her friend, she didn't show it and interrupted their questions saying, "We need an attending on this case. Tell them it is a Code Blue Sigma."

The intern trying to check Darcy's blood pressure looked dubious at the command of a civilian but with one look at Jane's no nonsense face they turned and went to the nursing station to page their superior.

He gave her a look of gratitude, sitting down on the small stool beside where they had laid Darcy, "Thank you Lady Jane, I am in your debt."

"No you're not." Jane informed him plainly, pulling Darcy's blanket up higher in an affectionate way, "It's for Darcy and no matter how crazy she drives me, she's the closest thing to a friend I have and I'll do whatever it takes."

They were quiet for a few minutes amidst the commotion of the hospital, Fandral was very moved at Jane's words but before he could think of anything to say in response, Coulson and five dudes in black as well as a doctor looking person in a lab coat walked in. Coulson made a b-line for them immediately while the other agents spread out to probably search the premises and create a perimeter in case Loki attacked again.

"How is she?" He asked immediately.

"They're still running tests so we don't know yet." Jane said solemnly, but feeling ten times better now that someone with real authority was there.

Coulson took in what she said, looking at her incapacitated assistant, "We'll have her moved to a more secure wing, until we can ascertain if Loki is going to come back and finish what he started."

"He's not going to." Fandral spoke up, eyes still locked on the mortal who'd snuck her way into his life, "He will someday; but not today. He retreated to gather his strength. If I know him, he's going to bide his time and wait for the best time to strike."

Coulson just looked on the Asgardian long and hard for a good minute before simply saying, "That reminds me, we're going to need to debrief you and find out exactly what happened tonight. But first, we need to get you checked out. Dr. Foster, Fandral, I'd like to introduce you to Dr. Margaret Wells."

The woman in the lab coat stepped forward. She was a middle aged woman with graying red hair. She had kind eyes but they were bright with intelligence. Dr. Wells gave them both introductory nods before turning her entire attention to her new patient and Darcy's chart. It was about that time that the attending finally arrived looking indignant and superior, just like Jane's ex, she thought with a sigh.

"Excuse me," Dr. Pompous McJerkface asked Dr. Wells with condescension as she continued to peruse Darcy's chart without looking up, "What do you think you are doing? You don't work here. This is my patient."

"Wrong." Dr. Wells responded instantly, looking up at the tardy attending with a certain fire in her eyes, "This _was_ your patient. Your Chief gave me privileges while I was on the way here. You were given a Code Blue Sigma and it took, what, seven minutes for you to get here?"

She looked to Jane and Fandral for confirmation and was met with a nod from Jane.

"I was with a patient." He defended haughtily.

"A Code Blue Sigma means you drop whatever you are doing and report faster than as soon as possible for a top priority emergency." She informed him coolly, before narrowing her eyes in suspicion, "Or did you not know that?"

The attending looked down sheepishly, getting the feeling like he was losing ground fast and trying to come up with anything to regain the high ground, "This is not a military hospital, we have normal cases here."

"I see, so you got a page, didn't understand it because you couldn't be bothered to memorize the codes you were supposed to so you waited until you were done with what you were doing before you finally bothered to look it up and get your lazy ass down here. Is that about it?" She summed up critically.

Dr. McJerkface at least had the restraint to not try another douche bag response and instead looked at their shoes.

"I thought so." Dr. Wells finished, taking his silence as admittance, "That will be all, Doctor. You may return to your precious 'normal cases' while I actually save this girl's life."

With that, Dr. Wells turned her back on him in a dismissive manner as he quietly shuffled away with his tail between his legs. Her distaste for the attending was palpable and Fandral almost expected to hear her growl.

Instead she simply muttered angrily to herself, "It is assholes like that who give the entire profession a bad name."

Coulson cracked a rare grin and put a hand on his shoulder, "Easy, Mags, he'll be out of a job by morning."

Jane's ears perked up at the nickname as she looked at them and actually got the impression that they were friends which is something she didn't imagine in Mr. By-the-Book Efficient Coulson she'd thought she'd known. But tonight was shaping up to be an eye opening experience with only one thing for sure, Dr. Wells had just earned herself a spot solidly in the Jane Approves column. Darcy would probably like her a lot.

"Thank you," Dr. Wells said before she took a deep breath and let it out, regaining the professional demeanor she'd walked in with, "Now I need the most competent residents and interns and some place more private. I might need another attending but if I see that one again I am going to throw him off the roof."

"I'll get right on it." Coulson informed her with a short nod before heading to the nursing station being tailed by one of the black garbed SHIELD agents.

"Alright then," Dr. Wells began, getting down to work, "Fandral, is it? I need to know what happened. I don't need to know everything, that can wait for Coulson but I need to know how she was injured."

Fandral stood and looked at Darcy giving Margaret the chance to give him a once over as well to which she added, "and I get the feeling that you are my special circumstances patient."

He gave an awkward sort of nod, "That I am."

"Well then, we should get started." The doctor said as Coulson made some sort of signal to Dr. Wells from the doors to the rest of the hospital as 2 underling doctors came forward to help move Darcy's bed to another section of the hospital.

Throughout various tests over several hours, Fandral told the mortal healer about Loki's other nature he'd just discovered and how he had used it to freeze Darcy with his hands. He also told about Darcy's attempt to taze Loki which led to him breaking her left hand. And though he would rather all attention be focused on Darcy, he eventually informed them of the icicle that was stabbed through his shoulder and how Loki had pulled his arm behind his back.

This retelling had earned both he and the still unconscious Darcy each a trip to a strange room with the lights off and a bed-like table that made a strange noise when the attendant hid behind a wall that Dr. Wells called an X-ray.

Darcy, who was now being given medicine to return her vitals to normal, had a positive prognosis but the healer still said it would take a while to recover. She reportedly had hypothermia and various other mortal words he didn't understand and there were no use for on Asgard. He found himself missing the healing stones and ingen smerte and helbrede that he was now out of that he had always taken for granted on his adventures with the Warriors Three.

Before long, both he and the Lady Darcy were set up in a secure room with two guards at the door with Coulson, Dr. Wells and Jane. Jane, who'd been relegated to a guarded waiting room throughout the testing now sat by Darcy's side with that concerned mother hen look in her eyes before asking, "So, how is she? Is she going to be alright?"

Dr. Wells started, consulting Darcy's chart from the end of the bed as she gave her report. "She's got a very mild case of hypothermia, some of her vital organs were starting to shut down and he shattered her radius and ulna but that should make a full recovery. You got her here in time before she got serious frostbite anywhere that will cause her to lose any fingers or toes. We're continuing to thaw her and I would like to keep her under sedation at least for another 12 hours to give her body time to recover before waking her up. There were some other unusual side effects from his freezing but, honestly, the hypothermia is what worries me the most. Since we're warming her up and have the right medicine, she should make it but we'll want to watch her very carefully after the sedation to make sure he didn't land her in a coma. If that's the case, things will get a lot trickier."

"Why don't you wake her now to be sure?" Jane asked intently as she tried to take everything in.

"Her body is in shock." Dr. Wells explained in a reassuring tone. "Right now, waking her up would cause more harm than good, overload her senses as it were. I think some rest and stability is what is best at this juncture."

The red head put the chart back and went over to the bed that Fandral had grudgingly been set up in and said with a smirk at Fandral's impatience to get out of the blasted bed that she'd finally convinced him to occupy, "And as for you, your bones are at least three times as dense as ours and your muscles are stronger; so you don't have any hypothermia which is very lucky. You also don't have any breaks but you have a hairline fracture along your radius that I want you to be careful of. Loki also strained some of your muscles. But based on the rate you've achieved in the last few hours, you will probably heal within the week but until then, I want no heavy lifting or any sort of strain on that arm. Do you understand?"

"I understand, Healer Wells." Fandral replied gentlemanly as was the custom of his people.

The doctor gave him a warm smile, "Good and you can call me Maggie."

"Alright then, Mag-gie." He repeated in an unsure manner as if he, from the land of Sif, Volstagg and Loki, thought that Maggie was one of the weirdest names he'd ever said.

The older woman smiled even wider deciding that she liked the charming Asgardian, "And though I am prescribing a pain med, there really isn't much more we can do besides wait. So, I'm releasing you which means that, yes, you can leave the bed and put your clothes back on."

Fandral beamed at the news, as he had never been the best at staying put or sitting still. He stood up and hugged the doctor enthusiastically while being very careful of his arm lest she banish him to bed rest again, "Thank you Lady Maggie! That is wonderful news!"

She chuckled at his gusto, backing away saying, "I'll go process your paperwork now and hand this little meeting over to Coulson."

She then started for the door, walking past the SHIELD super agent saying, "They're all yours, Phil. Try not to be too strict."

He smiled fondly at her and replied quietly, "No promises."

With one last grin from the doctor, she left the room as once of the agents Jane had been seeing around all night took her place inside. He didn't say anything except to nod at Coulson as he took his spot by the door when Coulson stood between the two beds to address Jane better.

He began, choosing his words very carefully, "Now, Dr. Foster, you remember when I returned your equipment that I said that your research was very important to us. We believe that if anyone is going to find a way to open the door to Asgard, it is going to be you. That being said, we agreed to let you be in privacy because we thought Puente Antiguo was isolated enough that the base where the satellite crashed would be close enough. But in light of the attack tonight, we no longer believe that to be the case. You are a high priority in SHIELD's eyes as is evidenced by the funding and access we have given you and though I know you prefer to stay in New Mexico, we aren't sure if that is safe anymore. We're making arrangements to have you transferred to a more secure SHIELD lab facility in California. Darcy will remain here as Dr. Wells has made it clear that moving her anytime soon would be against her best interests, but agents will remain here to look after her and Fandral until they can also be moved to a SHIELD base."

"What? You're moving me?" Jane started in immediately as soon as he stopped talking. She was hysterical as it was such an adjustment and they didn't even check with her first, "No! I'm not leaving Darcy right now. She was hurt because of me, I'm not going to leave her."

"I understand your concerns," Agent Coulson began very calmly trying to ease her nerves while remaining adamant, "but you are too valuable to remain exposed and alone here. The sooner we get you somewhere safe, the better. We don't know who else knows you're here and we can't afford for your research to fall into the wrong hands."

"No." Fandral interjected grimly before Jane could build up enough steam to retort, "You cannot take Jane away. Darcy is her ward and responsibility just as Jane is mine. I gave my word to Thor, son of Odin that I would look after his mortal until his return. I do not understand your Earthly customs or reasonings but understand me, I will not allow you to make me betray my promise. Jane will stay here."

Coulson started to get his grumpy on saying, "I understand that that is important to you but protecting Dr. Foster is important to us too and frankly, we have more resources than you at the moment. We cannot leave her alone with only you and Darcy."

"Then don't." The other SHIELD agent interjected much to the surprise of everyone. Jane gave him a good look, he was so unassuming and quiet that she'd forgotten he was even there. He had short brownish blonde hair and a rough look about him, but in the kind of way you wanted a secret agent guard dude to have. He had a bit of a squashed nose and despite her quite obvious involvement with an Asgardian prince, even she could notice that he had serious muscles in his arms.

"Agent Barton?" Coulson questioned, not in an 'I am a pompous ass who can't believe a subordinate is questioning my orders' way but more like 'I am surprised that you spoke up and if you are speaking up you must have a good reason' sort of way.

"I was just thinking, sir," He said as if he was trying to figure out how to put his idea in words, "Maybe you could just leave a team here and up the security around the lab and in the town; camera, motion sensors, magic detectors and the like."

Coulson just raised an eyebrow at this development, "And would you be willing to lead such a security team?"

Barton shrugged in a noncommittal gesture, "If that's what would be best for all parties."

Coulson turned to Jane, "Well?"

"Yes, definitely." Jane nodded fervently before this better option was rescinded. I mean, she wasn't the biggest fan of codes and things she couldn't remember but it'd be better to have GI Attractive and his team then to be swept to God knows where in some underground lab with no friendly faces.

"I can stand behind this more agreeable plan." Fandral told the son of Coul.

"Very well then." Coulson concluded, glad to have found a reasonable compromise, "It's settled. Agent Barton and his team will remain here and we will have more rigorous security measures in place by the time you return to the lab. I'll get the paperwork and pass codes to you by tomorrow. Good night."

And with that the subtly impressive agent left the room leaving the new guard, the astrophysicist and the Norse Warrior God alone to contemplate their new situation with the sedated Darcy.

"Well," Jane started to break the awkward silence as she shifted to be more comfortable in her chair against Darcy's bed, "This should be different."

**Author's Note: MWUHAHAHA! CLINT HAS ARRIVED. I really could not help it. Jeremy Renner is my favorite actor and Hawkeye is my favorite Avenger. It is glorious and nothing hurts.**

**Don't worry he won't become one of the main characters but I just had to have him in it. and yay for Coulson. I love Coulson even though he sometimes has to be the bad guy.**

**And I love Dr. Margaret Wells. She is wonderful and I was happy to come up with her and her bamf self. You guys like?**

**Please let me know if you guys are still with me even though I am the loser with a life and a million other things to do. I understand if you don't like me anymore but I still love you all.**

**So review please.**


End file.
